New York, New York, so good Britain's Greg Rusedski might have named it a thousand, thousand times if he had won the US Open title at Flushing Meadow yesterday. But the final triumphant song belonged to Australia's Pat Rafter who defeated the British number one 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 with a classic display of serve volleying.

Rusedski was outplayed for two sets but, showing his bravery, he strained every muscle and tissue to win the third and push Rafter as hard as he possibly could.

Rafter's serve and volley game was swiftly in the groove, putting Rusedski under immediate pressure, and his own first serve suffered in consequence as he strained for accuracy.

The first break points came in the sixth game of the opening set with Rusedski making three unforced errors and Rafter cashing in for a 4-2 lead when Rusedski put a volley in the net.

The 24-year-old Australian held serve, then a wonderfully athletic volley, followed by a piercing ace, saw hime take the all important lead. Rusedski held together at the start of the second set, but further mistakes on his backhand allowed Rafter in again. Rusedski crashed a loose ball into the net in his frustration, and bounced his racket on the court when the Australian held for a 4-2 lead. Further loose volleys saw Rafter further extend his lead and eventually take the second set with ease.

Rusedski desperately needed a change of direction and luck as the third set began. This he achieved with a wonderfully precise forehand down the line to finally end Rafter's service domination. But after being 3-0 down Rafter got back to level terms. At 5-4 Rusedski was in deep trouble again, but improbably saved two match points, and then clinched the third set with a quite brilliant running backhand down the line.

The Briton fought every single point of the fourth set but in the end Rafter's superior all round play and flexibility saw him through. Even at 3-1 and 0-40 down Rusedski somehow managed to summon up enough will power and energy to level the fourth set. It was a quite extraordinary effort but could not be sustained. Small wonder.

A series of blistering serves gave Rusedski a 5-4 lead, including a world record serve of 143 m.p.h. But that was the British player's last hurrah. Rafter broke him to love the next time and then held his serve for the title with one final forehand cross court volley.

Earlier, Martina Hingis was crowned the undisputed queen of world tennis when she stormed to a 6-0 6-4 victory over African-American Venus Williams in the women's final.

It was the third Grand Slam victory of the year for Hingis, who won the Australian Open in January, Wimbledon in July and would have made it a Grand Slam of titles but for a defeat by Iva Majoli in the French Open final.

Hingis raced through the first set in just 22 minutes as a nervous and tense Williams sprayed a series of unforced errors around the Arthur Ashe Stadium court at Flushing Meadow.

And while 17-year-old Williams showed a few glimpses of her raw potential in the second set her game was always too erratic and too naive to trouble Hingis. Hingis won the last four points of the opening game to break Williams, then took a 3-0 lead when the American double-faulted on the seventh break point of the game. She broke Williams to love in the fifth and took the set in the next game with a forehand crosscourt winner.

Williams, who celebrated her 17th birthday in June, finally held her serve to open the second set, drawing raucous cheers with a backhand volley off a rare tentative shot by Hingis. She saved one break point in the third game before surrendering her serve to trail 1-2.

She finally broke Hingis to level the set at 4-4, but any sense of triumph was short-lived as she was broken back in the next game to leave Hingis to serve for the match.

US Open At Flushing Meadow Women's Singles Final: (1) M Hingis (Switz) bt V Williams (USA) 6-0 6-4.

Women's Doubles Final: (3) L Davenport (USA) and J Novotna (Cze) bt (1) N Zvereva (Blr) and G Fernandez (USA) 6-3 6-4.

Men's Singles Final: P Rafter (Aus) bt G Rusedski (Brit) 6-3 6-2 4-6 7-5.