Rotterdam: Briton Andy Murray upset world No. 1 Rafael Nadal 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 in a disappointing World Indoor Tournament final marred by injuries on Sunday.
Murray was less troubled by his ankle problem than Nadal was by his right knee problem after he had a medical time-out three games into the second set.
Both players then dropped serve four times in a row, handing the set to Nadal who could not put any power into his service but refused to give up.
"Thought the first set was very good, I played well and saw nothing on Nadal's movement" Murray said.
"But after his time out he wasn't running anymore and just hitting the ball hard from the baseline. It was disappointing as it wasn't particular entertaining at the end," he said.
Murray, the world No. 4 , knew he needed to play his best tennis to beat Nadal, but neither player reached the high standard they achieved in earlier rounds.
"After the first set and Nadal's problem I really struggled with my service game and got a bit nervous," Murray said.
Murray became the first Briton to win the tournament in Rotterdam.
Tim Henman lost three finals in 1999, 2000 and 2002.
Nadal refused to blame his injury for his second successive loss to Murray after last year's US Open semi-final.
"Murray just played better today," Nadal said. "I tried but couldn't give anything more in the third set."
"I don't think that this injury will be a serious problem, for sure it is not the same as last year. It was an option not to finish the match, but that is not a good way to finish a final, not for me not for Andy and not for the crowd," he said.
Nadal said he did not sustain the injury during the final but that it had got worse during the week.
"I will have a week now before I play Dubai and don't expect a problem so after all I had a great week in a strong tournament, with a spot in the final after good matches against Bolelli and Tsonga," Nadal said.
Amelie Mauresmo wins
Local favourite Amelie Mauresmo confirmed her return to form when she beat Russian third seed Elena Dementieva 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 to clinch her third Paris Open title on Sunday.
The Frenchwoman, who dropped to 24th in the WTA rankings after reaching top spot in 2004, ended a two hour-38-minute contest on her second match point.
In a tense opening set, Olympic champion Dementieva retrieved her opponent's groundstrokes like clockwork and she was the first to hold serve to open a 4-2 lead.
Eighth seed Mauresmo, who won the tournament in 2001 and 2006, frustrated the Russian when she broke back in the 10th game and forced a tiebreak.
The Frenchwoman saved a set point before prevailing 8-6 on her second chance with a service winner after 76 minutes.
She went on to break in the first game of the second set but Dementieva lifted her game and the 27-year-old Russian won five games in succession to level the tie.
With the backing of a 4,000 crowd, Mauresmo broke twice in the decider as Dementieva, who won the Auckland and Sydney tournaments this year, made a series of unforced errors.
The Russian pulled a break back but Mauresmo clinched victory with a service winner before bursting into tears.
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