Ferrero successfully defends title

MONTE CARLO, Monaco, April 20 (UPI) -- Juan Carlos Ferrero successfully defended his title Sunday by defeating Guillermo Coria of Argentina in the $2.64 million Monte Carlo Masters.

The 23-year-old Spaniard waited out the rain which delayed the start of the match by an hour, and then rolled to a 6-2, 6-2 victory in a contest reduced to the best of three sets due to the inclement weather.

"I'm playing very solid right now and not making mistakes," Ferrero said. "It was tough to wait for the rain to end, but this was a good victory. This is my first tournament on clay this season and I'm feeling great."

Ferrero won his 12th consecutive match here and now stands 16-2 on the red clay.

Ferrero owns three titles from four career Masters finals after Monte Carlo last year and Rome in 2001.

Coria lost his second career match against Ferrero, who is third in the season points race behind Andre Agassi and Rainer Schuettler. Ferrero had beaten him in the third round a year ago at Roland Garros.

Coria, the son of a tennis instructor, was overwhelmed in his first Masters finale as Ferrero dictated on the clay. His previous best was the Monte Carlo semis in 2001, when he lost to Gustavo Kuerten.

It was Coria's second loss in a final after going down to Spain's Carlos Moya in Buenos Aires in February. He beat Moya to reach the final here.

Coria failed to follow coach Alberto Mancini, who won the Monte Carlo trophy in 1989 over Boris Becker.

Ferrero, who converted on six of 11 break point chances and struck 17 winners, will go to next week's event in Barcelona as the top seed.