Tennis: Hewitt Wins Abn Amro World Indoor Tournament

Lleyton Hewitt, who made his priority the winning of the Davis Cup for Australia last year, underlined his determination to put himself back among the leading contenders for grand slam titles with a 6-7, 7-5, 6-4 win over Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero, the world No3, in the final of the ABN AMRO world indoor tournament in Rotterdam yesterday.

This was Hewitt's second successive ATP title this year, having won in Sydney last month, and his 21st in total. It will also see him reclaim his place in the world top 10.

His only defeat this year came in the fourth round of the Australian Open when he lost to Switzerland's Roger Federer, the world No1, whom Tim Henman defeated in the quarter-finals here on Friday.

Henman's elation was short-lived, however, as on Saturday he was comfortably defeated 6-3, 6-3 by Hewitt, who has never lost to the Englishman in seven meetings.

Hewitt needed only 70 minutes to beat Henman, whereas it took him 2hr 39min yesterday to down Ferrero, who had played three successive three-set matches, winning them all in third-set tie-breaks.

Henman blamed his defeat on pressure: "I gifted him too many free points - there were definitely shots I missed that I would normally expect to make. I think that's a direct result of the pressure Lleyton puts opponents under by being so quick around the court and by getting so many balls back in play that perhaps other players wouldn't.

"He also returns so well that I found it tough to know where to serve in the end. I never felt comfortable on serve and that's obviously an important aspect of my game."

Yesterday was a notable day for Hewitt, who will be 23 tomorrow, and his Belgian fiancée Kim Clijsters, the women's world No2 who won the Antwerp Diamond Games title just 40 minutes earlier by defeating Italy's Silvia Farina Elia 6-3, 6-0.

Ferrero was looking to avenge his defeat by Hewitt in last November's Davis Cup final, but after winning the opening tie-break 7-1 he did not having the energy to match the Australian.

Hewitt will be hoping this relaunches his career. After winning the US Open in 2001 and Wimbledon the following year, he has only managed to get beyond the last 16 of a slam twice in six attempts since. He lost his No1 ranking last year, finishing a lowly 17th. "I expect him to be back near the top very soon," said Henman.