Robby Ginepri won his second career title after fellow American Taylor Dent quit with heat exhaustion in the third set of the RCA Championship final on Sunday.
Ginepri triumphed 4-6, 6-0, 3-0 in the first all-American final here since Pete Sampras defeated Jim Courier 13 years ago.
The unseeded Ginepri won the last 10 games of a match played in 47 Celsius temperatures, an exhausted Dent winning just 10 points during that stretch.
"It's a shame to win it like this, especially against a good friend," said Ginepri, whose world ranking is expected to rise from 98th to 64th on Monday.
"I've done a lot of hard work in the past week in Miami with my coach and physical trainer and it's good to see that it has paid off. I have had a great week."
Fourth seed Dent called for his trainer after losing the second set and revived after taking a dose of ammonia salts. However, after returning to the court, he was forced to retire after playing three more games.
"I felt tired during my morning warm-up and then ran out of gas," said Dent, who added he had not regained full fitness following an ankle injury earlier this year.
"I'm just sorry I wasn't able to put on a better show for the crowd. I gave everything in the first set, then there was nothing left.
"It was getting worse and worse for me as it went on. I was thinking from midway through the second (set) when to pull the plug. There was nothing left in the tank."
Ginepri won his first ATP Tour title in Newport in 2003.
