Patrick Rafter is playing some unbelievable tennis and he has won his second title in a row, and a it is a Mercedes Super 9 Series event to boot. Rafter has won the ATP Championships with a stunning come from behind victory over Pete Sampras 1-6, 7-6, 6-4, in two hours 22 minutes.

But the match ended in controversial circumstances when a serve hit by Rafter was upheld as an ace but Sampras was convinced the ball was out and virtually refused to accept it.

For the Australian, it is title number four for the year but only his second career win from ten matches (last one was in 1993 in Indianapolis) against Sampras, and he walks away with a first prize cheque for $US361,000 - the same amount he won for the Canadian Open title last week.

The victory pretty much guarantees Rafter of a top four seeding at the U.S. Open where he is the defending champion.

"It's a good feeling, I don't think I know how to lose anymore," said Rafter with a huge grin as he takes his match win streak to ten.

"I definitely thought that serve was in, you hit them in practice and you get to know the feeling of a serve that is good and one that is out."

Sampras played some of the most amazing tennis possible in the first set as he swept through it. At 5-1, Rafter was getting so outplayed that he handed his racquet to one of the ballkids who stepped up to the baseline to receive serve, but Sampras did not respond with any mockery.

But then the Australian began to fire. He was always serving first in the second set and Sampras had to play catch up. Now he was taking some of the glory that Sampras enjoyed with winners and returns that were just missing in the first set were starting to find the right side of the line. Rafter held two set points on Sampras' serve but the American saved them. They went to the
tiebreaker and Rafter played some vintage tennis to win it 7-2.

The final set went with serve, but in the ninth game Rafter pounced. He broke serve for the first time in the match and then served it out with that ace which was angrily disputed by the American. Sampras, who will remain at number
two in the rankings behind Marcelo Rios, found it very hard to accept the way the match ended but he had to, as umpire Lars Graff called it "game, set and match, Rafter".

"I thought that ball was definitely out and I have never had a match end like that before," said Sampras. "But, I had chances and if I had made one point it would have made a difference. It was a tough way to lose."

And just as a final note to prove nice guys finish first. Proof of that came after the final when Rafter left the players' lounge to take the short walk to his tournament Mercedes in the parking lot. He stopped to sign autographs for the throng of people waiting to intercept him outside the players lounge and signed dozens by the time he got to the gate to the parking lot.

He was walking toward his car when his girlfriend, Lara Feltham, mentioned to him that she saw a little girl walking away from the crowd in tears because she didn't get an autograph. Upon hearing that, Rafter walked back to the gate and yelled out, "Hey, little girl in the pink hat. Come back here!" The five or six-year-old was walking away but people got her attention and she swiftly walked back to the group and up to Rafter, who gave her a big smile and the autograph she'd been seeking.