INDIAN WELLS (California), March 18: Lleyton Hewitt captured his first elite Tennis Masters Series title Sunday with a straight sets victory over Tim Henman in the final at Indian Wells.

Hewitt, the reigning US Open champion who ended 2001 as the youngest player to hold the year-end world number one ranking, dispatched the ninth-seeded Briton 6-1, 6-2 in 1hr and 21 minutes.

“It was a lot tighter than the scoreline showed,” the top-seeded Australian said. “The second set I faced a lot of break points. Tim’s a great fighter.”

In the first set, the only game Henman won was a break of Hewitt’s serve in the second game, which the Australian handed to him with two double faults.

In the second set, Henman was able to apply a bit more pressure, but couldn’t break until the fifth game. But that only narrowed the gap to 3-2, and Hewitt promptly reeled off three games, closing out the match with one last break of Henman’s serve.

Henman has now lost all eight matches he has played against reigning world number ones, and all four of his clashes with Hewitt.—AFP