Tim Henman will go into next week's Australian Open in great heart following his victory in the Australian Hardcourt Championships in Adelaide.

The British No 1 from Oxfordshire justified his top-seed status when beating home hope Mark Philippoussis 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 in the final.

"There are so many good players in the draw that winning here guarantees me nothing when I pitch up in Melbourne," said Henman.

"However, I'd much rather turn up there having just won a tournament than having just lost in the first round, so we'll just have to wait and see."

Henman believes he has developed a resilience which will make him tougher than ever to knock over this season.

"After losing the second set after a very good tie-breaker, that's when you have to draw on your mental strength and in the third set I played as good as I have played all week," said the 27-year-old.

He will bypass tournament play this week to prepare with new coach Larry Stefanki for the Grand Slam event where he has never been beyond the fourth round.

Henman's chances of claiming a slam have perhaps never been better.

He finished last season as the world No 9 and now has a coach who has guided the likes of Marcelo Rios and Yevgeny Kafelnikov to big tournament wins.

Nicknamed 'The Scud' for his usually fearsome power, Philippoussis was often found wanting when serving.

"I'm very disappointed and I hated giving away service games with double faults," he said.

"I don't mind him coming up with winners but it's just frustrating to make those unforced errors which I shouldn't be making in big matches against top players.

"He played pretty much the way I expected him to play but he was just a little steadier."

However, Henman was convinced he had beaten a player who was on the way back to prime shape.

"I felt like Mark was a better player early on and I couldn't get into his service games," he admitted.

"But that's the time you've got to hang in there and I got my chances and I took them.