Tim Henman delivered arguably the best performance of his career to crush Andre Agassi in yesterday's final of the Swiss Indoors 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

"I don't know what to say," Henman said after the match, having immense difficulty suppressing a constant smile reminiscent of his British rival Greg Rusedski. "That was probably the best match I've ever played, certainly the first two sets were my best ever. It wasn't just that the level was high, it was also consistent."

Henman became the third British winner in the 28-year history of this tournament after Roger Taylor and last year's winner Rusedski. It also took him above $1 million in prize-money for the year, and makes him a genuine contender for a place at the eight-man ATP Tour World Championship in Hanover at the end of November.

Henman's fourth career title after Sydney and two in Tashkent was certainly his most satisfying. "When you look at the starting line-up here, this is certainly the best of the four.

"It's also ahead of my victories against (Yevgeny) Kafelnikov and (Richard) Krajicek at Wimbledon. Agassi's stature is of the highest pedigree, and to beat him in a five-set match is a really good feeling."

Agassi was not happy with his own performance, saying if he had a gun he would have shot himself, but he could not hide his admiration for Henman. "I thought he did everything real well, the guy's a great indoor player, he plays well on a lot of surfaces but best when the ball stays low like grass or here. I had to get a shovel to get under his backhand slice, he served really big and didn't miss too many volleys - he impressed me very much."

A feature of Henman's performances during the week has been his ability to play his best tennis on break-points, and not to be daunted on the few occasions he has dropped serve. He saved three of Agassi's seven break-points, and broke the American six times.