Coria takes Monte Carlo crown

Monaco: Argentina's Guillermo Coria hammered home his credentials as French Open favourite by extending his winning streak on clay to 26 matches with a 6-2 6-1 6-3 demolition of German birthday boy Rainer Schuettler in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters. The 22-year-old number three seed, runner-up to Juan Carlos Ferrero last year, clinched the eighth title of his career and his second Masters crown to add to his Hamburg win in 2003. His last defeat on clay was at the hands of Martin Verkerk in the semi-finals of the French Open last June. Former French Open winner Thomas Muster holds the record of 40 in 1995, but the manner of Coria's win here suggests that the Austrian's mark is well within his reach. Coria, who collected 396,000 euros for his victory, clinched breaks in the third and fifth games on his way to taking the first set in 42 minutes as the German endured a miserable 28th birthday. Schuettler, who needed treatment on an injured right hand at the end of the seventh game, committed 21 unforced errors compared to Coria's miserly seven. Coria broke in the first game of the second set and again in the third as the hapless German watched a series of sublime backhand passing shots, hit from behind the baseline, breeze past him. (AP)