Dominic Thiem successfully defended his Open de Nice Cote d'Azur title with a hard-fought three-set victory over up-and-comer Alexander Zverev in Saturday's final.

Top seed Thiem recovered from a slow start to record a 6-4 3-6 6-0 victory and earn a third ATP World Tour title of the season.

That matches the Austrian's haul for 2015 and leaves him in good shape ahead of the French Open.

It was teenager Zverev - 2015's star of tomorrow - who started brightly with an early break and he raced into a 4-2 lead.

However, the 19-year-old was unable to build on his quick start as Thiem grew in confidence to break back and level in game eight after Zverev had taken a medical timeout for a nosebleed.

A double fault from Zverev gifted the opener to Thiem, who threatened to run away with proceedings by winning six straight games and an early break in the second.

But Zverev refused to go quietly and won six of the next seven games to force a decider.

The German's resolve proved short-lived, though, and Thiem - who had treatment on his right shoulder - won 24 of 29 points in a dominant decider to retain his title.