After four hours waiting in the rain, Tomas Zib took just five minutes and 27 seconds to put the finishing touches to his first XL Capital Bermuda Open triumph.

After a bizarre day of fantastic tennis, rain, fightbacks, court-cleaning, more rain and plenty of confusion, the Czech number two seed finally clinched the crown at around 10.15 p.m. in front of just 50 wet but hardy souls at Coral Beach ? and deservedly so.

Playing his fourth match in two days ? and this one lasted a minute shy of three hours on court and eight hours in total ? Zib was a worthy winner, earning his first title at the fifth attempt 6-7(8), 7-6(6), 6-1 after coming back from championship point down against Kristof Vliegen.

?I am very happy, it is great to win here,? said Zib, who joins countryman Michal Tabara in today?s doubles final at 9.30 p.m. against Jordan Kerr and Sebastien Prieto.

?It has been very hard for me, but I am happy. In the four years I come here I have only won one match so it is great for me to get this far.

?Kristof was very good today and had his chance but I got a little lucky and that is what you need.

?It was frustrating to wait for the rain to stop. It was a long time and it was hard for me to stay focused because you never what is going to happen in finals and he had a long time to think about ways to beat me.

?It has been tiring for me to play so many matches in a short time but that is what we practice for.?

The Czech, whose smiles off court were a far cry from his ulta-serious persona on it, also thanked the ballkids, who had to hang around way past their bedtimes on a school night, as well as the sponsors and the spectators who braved the rain and the long wait to see his ultimate triumph.

But yesterday could have been so different if young Belgian Vliegen had taken his match point at 6-5 in the second set tie-break, sparing everyone the painfully long wait for the final throes of the singles tournament.

After fighting back from 5-1 in the tie-break with five straight winners, the number seven seed and world number 108 attempted serve and volley again only to find the return bouncing right at his feet.

He couldn?t pick it up, then lost not only the next point but also the set and then his head, crashing to a 5-0 deficit before the rain started again.

At advantage up on his serve, the two players had had enough and what was to be an excruciating 280 minute delay began.

?I have to say well done to Tomas, he had a great game,? said Vliegen, who admitted to not having won in two months before arriving in Bermuda for what should have been a sunny week of tennis.

?But I had my chances and I just didn?t have that luck today. In the second set I had chances to break but I missed my winners by just centimetres and then I had a point to win the match.

?I knew I had to play aggressively so I went in behind my serve but he hit a good, good return and there was nothing I could do about it.

?It is a shame and it is disappointing to lose a final but I have to be happy to get to a final.?

Vliegen defeated Robert Kendrick, former winner Flavio Saretta, qualifier Tomas Cakl and Franco Squillari on his way to the XL showpiece and certainly looked the fresher player in the opening set.

The lanky youngster, playing a very upright, stylish brand of tennis, was in almost complete control when the game got underway after an abbreviated, rain-affected legends game.

His deep, penetrating groundstokes and occasional deadly forays to the net all seemed a little too much for the world number 77, who appeared tired from his exertions the previous day.

Just 27 hours before the final began, Zib was still yet to play either his doubles or singles quarter-finals, but by the end of Saturday night, the Czech powerhouse had claimed the scalps of both wildcard Scoville Jenkins and crowd favourite Juan-Pablo Brzezicki as well as earning a finals berth in the doubles with victory over American number one seeds Rick Leach and Travis Parrott.

The hard work that went into Saturday?s matches, two of them played in the searing heat that was so missed yesterday, clearly took its toll and Zib was 4-0 down before he knew it.

The first two games took 17 minutes, however, as deuces kept appearing, even if Vliegen appeared the only one capable of winning two consecutive points.

But with the game 31 minutes old, ZIb finally broke back and the crowd sensed something was about to change.

Unfortunately it was only the weather, with the ominous dark clouds turning into persistent rain and the players were smuggled off.

When they returned, Zib was in a different mood, no longer wanting to be bullied around the court by his younger opponent and keen to exert his authority and extra power on the game.

He evened up the rallies, although still found himself down a set point at 40-30 and 5-4. But Zib held the point, then broke at the second attempt and the set reached the inevitable tie-break ? although not before some controversy.

An incorrect call by a line judge at 15-15 and 6-5 to Zib cost the Czech what looked like a decisive point and his frustration got the better of him and he went down in that game without winning a point ? although not before screaming at the judge in his own language and offering a sarcastic ?thank you? in English.

Although he recovered his composure for the tie-break, he wasted two set points before Vliegen took the first 10-8.

The second set went with serve all the way to the tie-break, which Zib somehow won even after going down a match point after blowing a 5-1 lead.

The Belgian was mentally broken by that tie-break defeat, his game all but falling apart in a third set that he managed to fall 5-0 behind in ? and then the rain came.

With no sign of the inclement weather holding off, there were genuine fears that there would be no on-court conclusion to the tournament with organisers fearing they couldn?t sneak the match in before the players? departures for their next tournaments.

But fortunately the weather broke long enough, and five minutes was all that was needed, to allow Zib to earn Czech-mate.

The inevitable victory followed, albeit a few hours later than expected, with Zib holding his serve ? although via a deuce again ? to claim a trophy with his new good luck charm in the stands.

?I want to thank my wife Klara,? he said afterwards.

?I have never brought her to a tournament before and it is good to win in front of her. And I want to thank the other Czechs in the crowd.?

He also owes an enormous thank you to the grounds crew who pulled off a miracle in allowing him to get his victory last night by turning a clay paddling pool into a tournament playing surface in less than an hour with the use of rollers, spare towels and a lot of hard work and sweat.

With the run he is on at the moment, he will be hoping more weather miracles will get him the time he needs on court in today?s doubles final to claim his second trophy before jumping aboard his flight to Houston for tomorrow?s first round.