Kuerten beats Rafter in Cincinnati final

World number one Gustavo Kuerten cruised past Wimbledon finalist Pat Rafter 6-1 6-3 on Sunday to win the Cincinnati Master's tournament.

The top-seeded Brazilian had a busy day winning his sixth title of the year, first having to complete a semifinal against seventh-seeded Tim Henman of Britain which had been suspended due to rain on Saturday night.

Kuerten wound up beating Henman 6-2 1-6 7-6 (7-4).

After 50 minutes on court to conclude the semifinal and a brief 18-minute break between matches, Kuerten returned to the court for the final.

"I went back to the court feeling relaxed from the match before," Kuerten said. "I played maybe the best set of the week in that first set. I always knew what to do and what the next shot was."

Noting that it was Father's Day back in Brazil, Kuerten thanked the four father figures he recognises in his life -- his long-deceased father, his mother who took on both parental roles, his older brother Rafael and his coach Larri Passos.

For eighth-seeded Rafter, this was the third successive disappointment in a final. The Australian lost his second consecutive Wimbledon final in June and the Montreal final last week.

ALL-PURPOSE PLAYER

Kuerten, who won his third French Open title in June, has turned himself from a clay specialist into an all-purpose player and is now considered a threat by fellow players on all surfaces.

"I don't know what happened but now I am just playing so well and can play against anyone," said Kuerten, who won $400,000 for taking the title.

Rafter was completely outplayed.

Kuerten served better, volleyed better and kept his groundstrokes so deep that the Australian was often pinned to the baseline.

The Brazilian seemed to produce passing shots almost at will.

"I just couldn't put myself in good position to put him under pressure," Rafter said.

"I had no control. Anything I did he had an answer for. I needed the match to go a little longer to try to get myself into it."

Rafter, who earned $211,000 as runner-up, looked comfortable in the opening game, ending it with an ace at 40-30.

But Kuerten won the next five games to take the set, losing only four points in three service games.

Play stayed even to 2-2 in the second set when the Brazilian won four of the next five games to end the one-hour match.

Kuerten led 6-2 1-5 when his semifinal was suspended on Saturday night but Henman closed out the second set quickly and the third set went to a tie-break.

The two also played in the semifinals here last year, when Henman beat Kuerten in a third-set tie-break.