PARIS (AFP) - Britain's Tim Henman put a gloss finish on his disappointing year when he defeated gutsy Romanian outsider Andrei Pavel 6-2, 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/2) here on Sunday in the final of the 2.45-million-euro Paris Masters and then described it as one of his greatest moments in the sport.
It was Henman's second title of 2003 following his victory in Washington, the 11th of his career and his first Masters and it came at the end of an impressive week in which he had stylishly defeated world number one Andy Roddick, Wimbledon champion Roger Federer and triple French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten.
He also beat Sebastien Grosjean to exact revenge for the defeats he suffered at the hands of the Frenchman at Wimbledon and Queen's.
"It's been an incredible atmosphere. I look forward to coming out to defend my title next year," Henman said as he accepted his trophy. Looking relaxed and confident, the 29-year-old Briton scored an impressive 50 winners
"This is one of my greatest achievements," said Henman who becomes the second British winner here after Greg Rusedski's victory over Pete Sampras in 1998.
"I never thought that I could win this event. I have never played well in Paris and, before this week, I could count on one hand the matches I have won.
"But I couldn't be happier to win the Paris event - it's one of the most prestigious Masters events."
"After losing two previous Masters finals, the emphasis was on me. It was a real test of strength of character," said Henman whose efforts this week will move him up to 14 in the world when the new rankings are released on Monday.
After losing in the first round of the US Open to eventual champion Roddick, he had slumped to 40 as he struggled to recover fully from shoulder surgery.
Henman had shoulder surgery last November. He was no. 4 in hte world before the operation. His title in Washington last August was his first in 19 months.
Henman, a four-time Wimbledon semifinalist, takes home $522,000.
In a desperately poor final, Pavel lost his serve in the fifth game when Henman hit an accurate backhand return down the line and again in the seventh on a double fault.
That gave Henman, who only surrendered four points on his own serve in the first set, a 5-2 lead and he took the opener after 27 minutes.
Like Henman, Pavel is also making a return from injury. He was only handed a place in the draw just three days before the event started, had missed six months of the season through back and wrist injuries and, until this week, had won just three matches in the entire year.
As a result, he had slumped to 191 in the world.
But despite losing his opening service of the second set, the 29-year-old Romanian showed more spirit and broke back in the 10th when Henman was serving for the set.
Suddenly it was Pavel playing with the greater freedom as he held to love to lead 6-5 before Henman held for a tiebreak.
The tension was obvious for Henman who double-faulted on his first set point but when Pavel hit a backhand wide the breaker was his after 1hr 33min.
Pavel, in just his 20th match of the year, was the better player for large parts of that set and had reduced his unforced error count to just six while Henman sent down 15.
Serve dominated the third set as another tiebreak beckoned and again it was Henman who was the cooler.
He built up four match points and needed just one when Pavel netted a return after 2hr 25mins on court.
"That third set was the toughest of the week," admitted Henman.
"There was a lot of nervous tension. He started to play a lot looser and was more aggressive but I had to make sure I didn't get ahead of myself. I knew that my tennis was at a level where there was no need to panic."
-- November 3, 2003