Veteran Puerta Spanks Young Monaco in All-Argentine Casablanca Final

Experience won out over youth Sunday in the ATP Casablanca claycourt final when No. 6 seed Mariano Puerta routed unseeded Juan Monaco 6-4, 6-1 for his first title of the year and third of his career.

"I am a little bit disappointed about today," Monaco said. "The conditions weren't easy, it was windy and the crowd really affected me unfortunately. I know it has been a great week for me, I gave everything I had in this final and Mariano played a great match, he was able to stay more concentrated than me."

Puerta said the key was getting his emotions under control early.

"I am so happy. It is unbelievable, such a great feeling," Puerta said. "I was really nervous at the beginning because I wanted to win this final so badly. The conditions weren't easy either, there was a lot of wind and the crowd affected us quite a bit. I think my experience made me deal with the situation better that Juan. He is young -- he was playing in his first final and he seemed to really lose his concentration with the crowd."

In the Saturday doubles final, No. 2 seeds Frantisek Cermak and Leos Friedl claimed their third title of 2005, defeating South Americans Luis Horna and Adrian Garcia 6-4, 6-3.