Clay master - Teen Nadal holds off Coria for Monte Carlo title
Rafael Nadal became the first teenager to win the Monte Carlo Masters since Andrei Medvedev in 1994.
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MONTE CARLO, Monaco (AP) -- Rafael Nadal won the Monte Carlo Masters on Sunday, beating defending champion Guillermo Coria 6-3, 6-1, 0-6, 7-5 for a big clay-court victory and his first Masters title.
The 18-year-old Spaniard became the first teenager in more than a decade to win at Monte Carlo and denied Coria his first ATP title this season.
"This is my first very important tournament win," Nadal said. "I was happy to win the Davis Cup, now this is incredible."
Coria complained that overcast conditions made the balls "very heavy" and stopped him from playing his normal game in this key tuneup for the French Open.
"It was a very hard final against a great player," Coria said. "I didn't know where to put the ball. He was very strong physically."
Coria made a good comeback in the last two sets, but Nadal held on for his fourth career title. The last teenager to win Monte Carlo was Andrei Medvedev in 1994. Nadal's other titles this year, in Brazil and Mexico, were also on clay.
Coria, seeded sixth, was appearing in his third consecutive Monte Carlo final after losing to Juan Carlos Ferrero in 2003 and defeating Rainer Schuettler last year.
The Argentine made plenty of unforced errors in the opening two sets, trying to find ways to get to Nadal. The 11th-seeded Spaniard then won 11 of 12 games and produced a love service game to take the second set.
Coria crouched forward in his chair and shook his head as the players waited to start the third set. He responded well, winning the set in 32 minutes. Nadal decided to ease up midway through the third set to conserve energy.
"I'm not made for five sets on clay, and when it was 2-0, 3-0 in the set I stopped playing for the last few games," he said.
An excellent lob by Nadal in a tense fifth game of the third set helped put him ahead 4-1, but Coria clawed back.
"I was a little bit scared because it was like Miami," Nadal said. "And I was too tired for a fifth set. I knew after losing to Federer that I had to win here."
In a title match this month in Key Biscayne, Fla., Nadal blew a two-set lead and 5-3 advantage in the tiebreaker in a loss to top-ranked Roger Federer. On Sunday, the youngster missed two chances to break Coria and then surrendered his serve, giving the Argentine hope at 4-4.
Serving and down 6-5, Coria sliced a shot into the net, presenting Nadal with two match points. Coria slammed a forehand down the line to save one. On the following point, his mistimed drop shot gave Nadal an easy pass.
Nadal expects to play this week at Barcelona, followed by Masters tournaments at Rome and Hamburg -- both on clay. Then he would like to make an impact at the French Open.
"If I play like this I can have some good results, but I am not the favorite," he said.
Others, including Coria, think differently.
"He is the best player on clay at the moment," Coria said.
In the doubles final, Leander Paes of India and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia-Montenegro won in a walkover against American twins Bob and Mike Bryan. Mike Bryan had a shoulder injury.
"It was so bad when I woke up this morning that I could hardly lift my arm," he said.
