The third-seeded Rafter, who christened the new Arthur Ashe stadium by storming to his first Grand Slam title last year, was unstoppable yesterday as he committed a mere five unforced errors while slashing 39 winners in disposing of the unseeded Philippoussis 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0.

The 25-year-old Rafter, amazingly quick to the net and showing remarkable agility and anticipation, swept the last 10 games against a tiring Philippoussis, who ended the two hour, four minutes match by striking his 13th double fault.

``It is been a very long summer for me and a great two weeks of tennis for me,'' Rafter said, ``commiserations for Mark.''

Rafter received $700,000 for his bravura performance. The 21-year-old Philippoussis, appearing in his first Grand Slam final, pocketed $400,000.

Thevictory lifted Rafter into the number-two spot in the world rankings behind Pete Sampras, who lost to Rafter in Saturday's semifinals.

The triumph crowned an amazing run by Rafter in the summer hard court season following the Wimbledon championships. The win over Philippoussis improved the net-charging Rafter's run to 25-2 with four titles, including the Open.

``You have to hand it to Pat, five unforced errors in the match,'' said Philippoussis in wonder. ``Right now, he is the best player in the world.''

The Rafter-Philippoussis match marked the first all-Australian men's singles final at the Open in 28 years, since Ken Rosewall beat Tony Roche, now an advisor of Rafter's, in 1970 at Forest Hills.

It had all the makings of a slam-bang, serve-and-volley shootout in typical Australian style, and for two sets it delivered on the promise.

The first two sets were settled by a single service break in each, Rafter broke Philippoussis in the second game of the opener, cashing in on his fourth break pointwhen his young opponent double-faulted.

Philippoussis posted the only break of the second set when he took advantage of Rafter's soft second serve to crack some huge forehands and seize a 3-1 lead in the fourth game.

Philippoussis had blasted in 51 aces in his two previous victories but Rafter's athleticism and keen anticipation defused the big Australian's most lethal weapon, and Philippoussis notched just five aces in the match as he eased up on his booming first serve to get a higher percentage of them in.

The challenger fought best when his back was against the wall as he fended off break point after break point to stay in the match. The young Australian saved 14 to 20 break points Rafter held against him.

Rafter began to show his frustration in the fifth game of the third set when he squandered a 40-0 lead, slamming his racket down in disgust after netting a volley on third game point. He held his serve, however, and fans in the stands yelled out, ``Go Scud'', to urge on Philippoussis, sonicknamed for the force of his rocket-like serves.

The pivotal third set swung on the very next game. Philippoussis saved three break points in the game, the last with an emphatic overhead.

But Rafter rose to the occasion on the next point, returning another overhead smash with a reflex shot from the baseline. He hurried into the backhand corner to retrieve the next shot and then raced forward to the other side to reach a drop shot and rip a forehand that handcuffed Philippoussis at the net.

Philippoussis netted a half-volley on the next point to go down 4-2, and the 21-year-old failed to win another game as Rafter won a remarkable 22 out of 27 points during one dominating stretch as he closed in on the title.

``I think having the experience of last year really helped me,'' said Rafter, who lost his serve only seven times in the entire tournament, which included five-set victories in the first round against Moroccan Hicham Arazi and in the semifinals against Sampras.

Rafter had kind words for theloser. ``He is going to be one of the top players in the world once all his game starts to come together,'' Rafter said of Philippoussis, whose ranking will improve from 22 to 14 for his Open run.