INDIAN WELLS — In Sunday's BNP Paribas Open men's final, it looked as if the ghost of Tim Henman past was haunting Henman present.

Andy Murray, Great Britain's biggest hope since Henman, evoked the memory of his fellow countryman in a bad way as he was dismantled by the wind and world No. 1 Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-2 in a surprisingly lopsided match that lasted one hour and 21 minutes. Nadal takes home a winner's check of $605,000, while Murray earned $295,500.

“Rafa dealt with (the wind) very well. He hit the ball cleaner and seemed to get himself in better positions than I did. Then you don't necessarily want to be doing a whole lot of defending and running. You want to be in the best position possible to hit each ball, and I wasn't. That's why he managed to dictate most of the points.”

It was the identical score of Henman's 6-1, 6-2 loss to Lleyton Hewitt in the 2002 finals. Henman also lost in the 2004 final, a 6-3, 6-3 loss to Roger Federer.

The 2002 loss was the first year Pacific Life became the title sponsor. This is the first year BNP Paribas is the title sponsor of the Indian Wells event.

It wasn't supposed to be a mismatch. Murray, who beat Roger Federer in Saturday's semifinal, appeared to be a dangerous foil to the world's No. 1 player, having beaten him in their previous two meetings. One of Murray's victories over Nadal was in the semifinals of the U.S. Open in September, denying Nadal an appearance in four consecutive finals appearances in majors.

As bad as Henman and Murray's losses were, they weren't the worst in tournament history. In 2003, Lleyton Hewitt defeated Gustavo Kuerten 6-1, 6-1. Kuerten had to complete his semifinal match earlier that day due to a rain delay.

The X-factor Sunday in the match was the swirling winds with gusts of up to 50 mph.

“I don't know if I was a little bit more prepared than him today to play with these conditions. Maybe I think I accept a little bit better than him those conditions today,” Nadal said. “Maybe I was a little bit with more positive attitude than him during the match, and last two days, that's decisive, no? I think I moved and I played a little bit more in the middle the court, more aggressive, moving a little bit more than him.

“When there is a lot of wind, I think the important thing is you don't to have find the shots close to the line. I think that the thing is you have to put balls inside, trying to play hard with good rhythm, but in the middle. Not in the middle, but to the sides, not close to the lines, no?”

The only other Englishman to reach the finals in the tournament was Greg Rusedski, who lost to Marcelo Rios in the 1998 final.

Nadal, who also won here in 2007, is the third Spaniard to win the men's singles title here. Palm Springs resident Jose Higueras won in 1983, and Alex Corretja won in 2000.

Although it was a tough end, Murray said he was pleased with his tournament. Coming into Indian Wells, Murray was getting over a virus and his expectations were low. But during the fortnight, Murray defeated No. 33 Paul-Henri Mattieu and No. 2 Roger Federer en route to the title match.

“I don't feel like I'm that disappointed just now with how the week went, because I wasn't expecting to do that well. I obviously had some very good wins,” Murray said. “You know, I got a lot of the matches that I wasn't necessarily expecting. So going into Miami, I'm going to be better prepared than I thought.

“You know, obviously today was not my best day, but I'll definitely get over it, because, you know, I'm guessing I'm not going to play in those conditions each week.”

Not only this tournament, but Murray has had an impressive start to this year, compiling a 20-2 record. His only other loss was to Fernando Verdasco in the fourth round of the Australian Open. Among Murray's 20 victories this season was a 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 victory over Nadal in the final of Rotterdam in February. It was one of two losses for Nadal this year.

“Andy was the only big top player like I didn't (beat) this year, so yeah. It was important win for me, no?” Nadal said. “But anyway, the most important thing for me is win the title, anyway, the opponent in the final, no?”