Andy Roddick won his first title of 2009 and the 27th of his career on Sunday, beating Czech Radek Stepanek 7-5, 7-5 in the finals of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships.

Only Roger Federer (57) and Rafael Nadal (32) have won more titles among active players. Roddick confirmed on Friday that he wouldn’t defend his title at Dubai. He said he wasn’t happy about the denial of a visa to Israeli player Shahar Peer by the United Arab Emirates for the women’s event this week.

But Roddick read a report that a hernia was his reason for withdrawing.

“There’s no other reason. Obviously, I don’t have a hernia. I probably wouldn’t have played too well today. I would ask you guys to check but that might be inappropriate. I’m 100 percent healthy,” Roddick said.

Roddick got a bit of revenge for losing to Stepanek in the semifinals in San Jose last week and improved to 5-1 all-time against the man trying to become the first Czech to win in Memphis since Ivan Lendl in 1991.

The American survived a tight match on Sunday by breaking Stepanek in the 12th game of each set to extend his streak of years with at least one title to nine.

Stepanek had won nine consecutive matches but struggled with unforced errors.

“Obviously, he’s been playing his best tennis of his career probably this year and especially the past couple weeks. I knew what it was going to take, and I was able to get there,” Roddick said.

The world’s sixth-ranked player took home the $300,000 winner’s check and 500 ranking points for the ATP World Tour. He improved to 17 wins against three losses in match play this year. Of his 27 titles, 19 have come in North America, and this is Roddick’s second at Memphis.

Roddick extended his streak of years with at least one title to nine, the longest current streak on tour, though Federer could match him with a victory this year.