Monaco, Apr 20: Spanish top seed Juan Carlos Ferrero retained his Monte Carlo Masters series crown here today with a 6-2 6-2 win in 1hr 16min over unseeded Argentine Guillermo Coria. The 23-year-old Ferrero landed his third masters series title and eighth career win overall to secure a winner's cheque for 400,000 Euros while Coria, 21, picked up half that sum. As in his semi-final win over Vince Spadea of the United States, Ferrero relied on his finely-honed claycourt instincts rather than his serve, which he dropped twice, more than compensating by breaking his rival's serve six times. Ferrero, one of only five active players to reach the finals of all three claycourt Masters series - he won Rome in 2002 and was runner-up in Hamburg in 2001 - snapped a seven- month barren run with his last title success coming last September at Hongkong.
Today's triumph moved Ferrero into third place in the ATP champions race place above Swiss star Roger Federer, matching his ATP entry system ranking, while Coria stays seventh in the race behind Australian Lleyton Hewitt after losing his first masters series final.

After rain had delayed the start of the proceedings for an hour the match, scheduled to be a best of five sets encounter, was reduced to best of three following morning rain in the principality which delayed the start by an hour.

Bureau Report