An emotional Andy Murray was almost lost for words after beating childhood hero Tim Henman to claim the most significant win of his career in Basel.

Murray served for the match at 5-4 in the second set of the opening-round clash in Basel but lost the next three games as Henman battled back to force a decider.

The British number one looked to have the upper hand as the match progressed but the 18-year-old from Dunblane won the decisive tie-break 7-4 to seal a memorable 6-2 5-7 7-6 victory.

''This is a pretty special day for me and I'll remember it for the rest of my life,'' said Murray.

''I have so much respect for him and it's always tough when you feel like that going into a match.

''He is one of the best players in the last ten years and to win against him is just amazing. I can't really describe how I feel.

''I tried not to show so much emotion during the match out of respect for Tim but at the end I couldn't hold it in any more.''

Henman was gracious in defeat and admitted Murray had handled the much-hyped match better than him despite the vast difference in experience.

''I have to give Andy credit because it's not just a normal match,'' said Henman.

''When you are playing a fellow countryman for the first time it's not easy and I would be the first to admit he dealt with it better than me.

''I didn't get off to the start I would like and I did well to turn it around at the end of the second set when he was serving for the match. I really wanted to kick on from there but it never really happened for me.''

Henman had pleaded for a ''sense of perspective'' ahead of the first competitive meeting between the pair at the Davidoff Swiss Indoors tournament, but the result will be seen as heralding a 'changing of the guard' in British tennis.

Murray broke serve in the opening game of the match after being gifted two break points by a wild forehand from Henman.

And the teenager repeated the trick in the third game as Henman again demonstrated his weakness on the forehand with a costly miss.

Murray, now ranked 70th in the world, had to save one break point in the fifth game before serving out for the set after 34 minutes.

Henman, 31, has failed to reach a semi-final in any of his 17 tournaments this year and has not won two matches in a row since June, slumping to 28th in the world rankings.

And it looked as if he was destined for another early exit when Murray recovered from a 3-1 deficit to serve for the match at 5-4 in the second set.

The British number one refused to give in, however, and broke back to level at 5-5 before taking the next two games as well to take the set 7-5 and force a decider.

Murray's frustration was obvious to see at the beginning of the decider, an audible obscenity indicating his anger at wasting his chance to seal victory in straight sets.

But he maintained his composure enough to hold serve throughout the set and take the match into a decisive tie-break, and quickly raced into a 3-0 lead.

Henman stayed in touch at 5-3 but then dumped a simple backhand into the net to give his young opponent three match points.

A winner which clipped the baseline saved the first of those but Murray held his nerve to put away a forehand volley on the next to seal an historic first triumph.

Murray paid tribute to Henman for inspiring him to make tennis his career.

''I had a decision to make between tennis and football,'' Murray added.

''If there was not someone to look up to in the top 100 there would not be the same sort of feeling.

"If it wasn't for Tim I might not be playing.''