BUENOS AIRES (AFP) - World number four David Ferrer of Spain defended his crown Sunday at the $490,000 ATP claycourt tournament in Buenos Aires with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 win over Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka.

Ferrer, the top seed, saw off his third-seeded rival before a 4,000 crowd at the Lawn Tennis Club despite dropping serve at the start of the deciding set as he then proceeded to polish off six games on a roll.

The 30-year-old pocketed his 20th career title and second of the year after Auckland.

"It is difficult to defend a tournament but tennis has been kind to me and I am very happy to have done so. I shall savour the moment," said Ferrer.

"Winning 20 titles is tough and I never thought I would get to that total but sometimes you achieve more than you dreamed of." Wawrinka, 17 on the ATP circuit, was left waiting for his fourth title - his most recent coming in 2011 at Chennai.

Spanish claycourt specialists have won the past five editions of the tournament, with Tommy Robredo successful in 2009, Juan Carlos Ferrero landing the next crown before Nicolas Almagro in 2011 and then Ferrer the past two years.