Dominic Thiem battled to the fourth title of his career in Buenos Aires on Sunday as he saw off the challenge of former Argentina Open champion Nicolas Almagro.

The Austrian emerged a 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 7-6 (7-4) winner after showing the cooler head in two tie-breaks against the man who won the crown in 2011.

Both served superbly well in a tight opening set with Almagro wasting the only two chances to break in the eighth game, which ultimately cost him as Thiem upped his level in the breaker – the fifth seed winning four successive points to move ahead.

Almagro – who was also runner-up in 2012 – was not going down without a fight, though, and he rallied in the second set.

The experienced Spaniard applied pressure on his opponent late in the set and Thiem faltered, Almagro taking four games in a row, converting his second set point to tie things up.

There was nervy starts from both sides of the court in the decider, but, after breaks apiece they settled into a rhythm and needed another tie-break to decide the winner.

Thiem won six of the final seven points to take the title, capping a great week for the world number 19 having already beaten Rafael Nadal on the red clay.