Henman wins CA Trophy

Tim Henman drubbed Germany's Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 today to win the the $800,000 CA Trophy in Vienna, Austria.

Tim Henman drubbed Germany's Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 today to win the the $800,000 CA Trophy in Vienna, Austria.

Haas, the silver medalist at the Sydney Olympics, played to the corners from the opening moments, driving deep but risky passing shots to Henman's backhand and mixing them with short drop shots on the line to take an early lead.

But Henman, 26, had no trouble staying in the match. Haas' efforts to take control by rushing to the net were stymied by Henman's own angled passing shots. Henman took the first set 6-4, winning six points at the net and committing far fewer errors than Haas.

Haas struggled to get back into the game and pounding his service, quickly took the first game of the second set only to have his service broken two games later. Henman showed no weakness, and held steady to take a comfortable two set lead with a 6-4 win.

A clearly frustrated Haas tried to soften up his game that had been riddled with mistakes and risky shots that led to little in the first two sets, but he failed to find his rhythm, losing his serve at 2-3 in the third set.

But serving 5-4, Henman appeared suddenly rushed and nervous, losing three straight points. He came back with an ace, a couple of deep winners and then punched a volley over for victory in two hours, two minutes before 7,000 spectators.

It was Henman's first victorious final since he beat Andre Agassi at the Swiss Indoors in Basel two years ago. He had lost the past seven finals he had played and beat his chest with his fist several times in satisfaction.

It was Great Britain's second straight win of the tournament, following Greg Rusedski's triumph last year. Henman took home $130,000 in prize money.

Haas had defeated France's Cedric Pioline, and Henman bested Roger Federer of Switzerland to reach the finals. The top seeds, Marat Safin of Russia and Magnus Norman of Sweden lost in early play, as did other heavily favoured players.