Safin tops Hewitt to win

PARIS, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Marat Safin captured his first title of the year in splendid fashion Sunday, a straight-sets victory over world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in the final of the $2.8 million BNP Paribas Masters.

Mixing his usual hard-hitting style with some finesse, Safin produced a 7-6 (7-4), 6-0, 6-4 masterpiece for his first tournament win since the St. Petersburg Open 13 months ago.

"I really thought I wasn't going to win a tournament this year," said Safin, who earned $402,000.

The second-seeded Russian dropped just one set en route to his 11th career title. A winner here two years ago, he joined Andre

Agassi, Pete Sampras and Boris Becker as the only players to have claimed this event more than once.

Safin was playing in his third final at the Palais Omnisport in four years and was applauded warmly throughout the final by the French crowd Sunday. Next month, he returns as the enemy when Russia plays France in the Davis Cup final.

The 22-year-old from Moscow lost finals this year at the Australian Open and the Tennis Masters Series event in Hamburg this year.

The 2000 U.S. Open champion is third on the ATP Champions Race, 110 points in back of Agassi, with 150 points available in Shanghai in nine days.

The Russian squandered a 4-2 lead in the first set before winning it in a tiebreaker. After running through the second set, Safin broke Hewitt at 3-3 in the third and had triple match points on the Australian's serve in the eighth game.

But Hewitt held on and led 30-0 as Safin tried to serve it out. The Russian won the next four points to close out his fourth win over Hewitt in seven meetings in two hours, 20 minutes.