Seventh seed Wayne Ferreira saved three match points on Sunday before upsetting top seed Lleyton Hewitt 6-3 4-6 7-5 to win the £235,000 Mercedes-Benz Cup.

After splitting the first two sets, Ferreira had two breakpoints in the seventh game of the third but could not convert.

He saved three match points in the 10th game, erasing the first with an ace and the other two with forehand winners.

Shaken, Hewitt double faulted twice in the next game to drop his serve and allow Ferreira to serve for the win. He closed out his first title in three years with a 19th ace.

Ferreira earned £32,000 for his 15th career crown and first since the 2000 Tennis Masters Series in Stuttgart, where he prevailed in five sets over Hewitt.

The 31-year-old South African, who upset Wimbledon runner-up Mark Philippoussis in the semi-finals, signalled a return to the form he showed in January when he reached the semi-finals at Sydney and the Australian Open.

But he suffered a groin injury in the third round at the French Open, leaving the court on a stretcher, and lost in the first round at Wimbledon in his last action before this week.

Hewitt was also participating in his first tournament since an embarrassing first-round defeat at Wimbledon.

He won two titles earlier this year but has not looked like the man who topped the rankings for most of the last three years.

The 22-year-old Australian split with coach Jason Stoltenberg at the French Open and has been working with Roger Rasheed, formerly his physical trainer, since Wimbledon.