Haas won his third title of the year and second Los Angeles championship in three years Sunday with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Dmitry Tursunov in the Countrywide Classic.

"I'll try to keep this going the next couple of weeks," Haas said. "It's not going to get any easier, but I feel like if I can stay healthy, stay in shape and keep playing tough matches, I'm heading the right way going into the U.S. Open."

The Open begins on Aug. 28.

Haas bounced back from a first-set loss to keep the pressure on Tursunov, who was playing in his first tour final.

The 23-year-old Russian won the first set with powerful, accurate groundstrokes, but his game began unraveling in the 12th game of the second.

A forehand long, a carom off his racket frame, and another forehand into the net by Tursunov helped Haas break his serve and tie the match at a set apiece.

"Maybe he was thinking about being close to winning his first title. I know it was his first final," Haas said. "So I was just trying to hold my serve and wait for my opportunities, which is what I did."

Haas broke Tursunov's serve again in the second game of the third set, then held serve the rest of the way to add the 2006 Los Angeles championship to the one he won here in 2004.

"After I won the second set, I felt like I had the momentum and I held a quick, easy (serve) in the first game, then broke him right away to go up 2-love," Haas said.

"He might have lost his composure and started thinking, so I just tried to focus on playing my game."

Tursunov, who has a wry sense of humour, took the loss in stride.

"He gets three trophies and I get one; I'm not coming back next year," Tursunov joked.

He downplayed the fact that it was his first final, grinning and saying, "I suppose I could have told myself, `If I win, I get more prize money -- and more phone numbers.

"He served well and I couldn't put any pressure on his serve. I'm happy I was playing well. I don't feel like I messed anything up," he said.

Haas, who won events at Delray Beach, Fla., and Memphis last February, came into the Los Angeles tournament at No. 21 in the ATP rankings and was the sixth seed. Tursunov, who reached his highest career ranking at No. 31 last month and was No. 33 coming into the event, was seeded eighth.