Defending champion Nicolas Escude won his second successive World Indoor Tournament title after struggling past sixth seed Tim Henman 3-6 7-6 6-4 in today’s final.
The Frenchman became the first player since Stefan Edberg in 1988 to win back to back Rotterdam titles, while Henman suffered his third Rotterdam final defeat in four years.
The Briton took the first set after Escude gifted him the break in the fourth game with a double fault.
Escude came roaring back to take a 5-1 lead in the second. Although Henman staged a fightback to take it into a tiebreak, he netted a service return on Escude's sixth set point.
After an early exchange of breaks in a topsy turvy deciding set, where both players faced break points in almost every service game, Escude decisively broke for a 5-4 lead and secured his third career title with a stretched volley winner.