(REUTERS) - South African Kevin Anderson put aside memories of his disappointing US Open final when he dominated a third-set tie-break to win the New York Open with a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-1) victory over American Sam Querrey on Sunday (Feb 18).

Anderson collected his fourth career title, his first as a top seed, and is expected to improve to ninth in the world rankings on Monday.

After a third set that went to serve, Anderson unleashed his 16th ace in the second point of the tie-break and never looked back before he achieved victory with a cross-court winner at the Nassau Coliseum.

"We first played each other 11 years ago. We always have close matches," Anderson said after bringing his career head-to-head record against Querrey to 8-8.

"I've been in quite a few finals," he added. "It really means a lot to me to get through today."

The Florida-based 31-year-old has been in 15 career finals but won just four. His most significant loss came last September some 25km away at Flushing Meadows, where he was beaten by Rafael Nadal at the US Open in his first Grand Slam final.

"One of the big goals I had for this year was to try to be a bit more successful in that final stage," the 2.03m Anderson said.

"It feels great to come through and get today's win. It gives me a lot of confidence for the year."