Britain's Martin Lee lost his first ATP final on Sunday night when he was beaten in straight sets by Neville Godwin at the Hall of Fame Championships in Newport, Rhode Island.

The 23-year-old from Worthing, ranked 135 in the world, went down 6-1 6-4 against South African Godwin.

The 23-year-old Lee, who could have taken another step closer to joining the upper echelons of British tennis currently occupied by Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski, failed to cope with his South African opponent's power.

``Neville played really well the whole match and he didn't give me much of an opportunity,'' said Lee.

``He kept coming in with the slice and it's very tough to pass.''

Both men were vying for their first title and Godwin, a runner-up in the event in 1998, was delighted with his victory.

``I'm just thrilled with my first title. Win number one is beautiful,'' said Godwin, who lost to India's Leander Paes in the same tournament years ago in his only other ATP final.

``I was really nervous against Leander that year, but this time I kept it lower key and stayed focused.''

The 26-year-old from Johannesburg took the first five games of the opening set, then broke Lee with a forehand passing shot to take a 2-1 lead in the second.

He recorded another break to go up 5-2, but Lee broke back and held serve before Godwin won on his second match point.

``I started off really well. I had a great first set,'' said Godwin, the fourth South African to win the tournament.

``I think we were both a bit nervous at the start. I wanted to come out and play aggressive and play well.''

Despite his defeat Lee claimed some impressive scalps - including the number five seed Lars Burgsmuller of Germany and third-seeded Italian Davide Sanguinetti - en route to the final - and will gain confidence from his encouraging performances this week.