TENNIS: Tim Henman picked up his first trophy of 2002 yesterday with a 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 win over Mark Philippoussis in the final of the AAPT Championships, then re-trained his sights on the Australian Open. The year's first grand slam event begins this day week in Melbourne and Henman knows that, for all he has gained from his week's work here, it will be a different ball game.

"You want to go in full of confidence and I will feel that way; but what does that guarantee you?" said Henman after his victory. "Now we wipe the slate clean and start again in Melbourne."

Henman knows that, like most pre-grand slam warm-up tournaments, Adelaide is as reliable a form guide for the Australian Open as reading tea leaves.

Henman has, however, plenty of reason to feel pleased with himself, not least for the way he coped with Philippoussis, a man he had lost to in their last four matches.

The Australian has been talking this week about how much he has matured, how he has learned to measure his game and play with more circumspection rather than trying to belt the fluff off every ball that comes his way.

After being true to his word in his first four matches, Philippoussis reverted to Plan A against Henman and went out with guns blazing. When the winners came they were devastating but they were punctuated with the kind of astonishingly rash errors that are frequently the big man's downfall.

Henman, meanwhile, was a model of consistency, holding his own against the onslaught from the other side of the net and, for the most part, taking his chances when they came.

He hung in well in the first set, winning his own service games by hook or by crook and watching ace after ace whizz past him in the first nine games. Then suddenly Philippoussis self-destructed, hitting three double faults to surrender his serve and present Henman with the lead.

In the past Henman's serve has sometimes been more of a liability than a weapon but these days, after hours on the practice court with his coach Larry Stefanki, the shot which used to get him into trouble now gets him out of it. Time and again against Philippoussis it proved reliable in moments of crisis.

Only after going a break up in the second set, when the trophy was within his grasp, did Henman briefly falter, tightening up when he served for the match at 5-3. When some inspired play from Philippoussis in the tie-breaker took the match back to all square it looked as if all Henman's work might have been wasted.

That could have been enough to send Henman into a downward spiral of frustration but such is his confidence just now he simply shrugged, pulled himself together and got on with things. "It's a good test of character when you serve for it, then play a good tie-breaker and still find yourself at a set all," he said.

"That's when you have to draw on your mental strength. It would have been easy to get frustrated because I felt I'd done everything but win the match but, if anything, my tennis got better and better."

Wimbledon's women champion Venus Williams gave her Australian Open chances a boost with a straight sets victory over Justine Henin in a replay of their Wimbledon final at the Australian women's hardcourt championship final in the Gold Coast on Saturday.

She said she was no longer prepared to lose. "I have had some disappointing and tough losses I have had to swallow and I'm tired of swallowing," said the 21-year-old American.

"It would be nice, real nice (to win the Australian Open)," Williams added. Martina Hingis crushed Williams 6-1, 6-1 in the semi-finals of last year's Australian Open, which she has yet to win.

Williams won 7-5, 6-2 in less than an hour. Henin (19) had stretched Williams to three sets in last year's Wimbledon final.

Guardian service

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