In front of a sun-kissed crowd, Hewett achieved his redemption.
Two years ago he served for the Championship four times before losing to Kunieda. In last year’s final he led the first set against Oda 4-1 but lost 11 of the next 13 games.
“I mean, I’m speechless, to be honest,” Hewett added. “These last few years have been difficult, losing twice.
“I don’t want to look over here because I’ll probably start crying. I want to thank my team, they’re like a second family over there, we’ve gone through a lot together, a lot of highs and some lows.
“But no matter how many times you get knocked down you can still get back up and keep trying, and that’s all down to you guys.”
This was the one title Hewett wanted and he made a rapid start, converting his eighth break point to lead 2-1 in the opener with a booming forehand winner.
But De la Puente, who was in his first Grand Slam singles final having beaten defending champion Oda in the last four, immediately broke back.
Second seed Hewett had struggled with a shoulder issue at the start of the tournament but in the final he was quickly back to his free-flowing best, and he soon took his game a level above De la Puente’s.
Dominating on the approach he then twice broke his opponent and clinched a superb first set in 40 minutes after De La Puente returned a powerful first serve long.