Henin in Charleston Final, Coria v Nadal at Monte Carlo

Coria posted a 6-2, 7-5 victory over the two-time Monte Carlo winner Ferrero, forced to come back from 0-4 in the second set.

"I'm very happy to be in the final," said Coria, who is still not 100 percent after coming off shoulder surgery late last year. "When I arrived here I was just trying to get back to my level."

Ferrero, himself looking to regain form after a disastrous 2004 campaign riddled with various injuries and illnesses, looked uncomfortable in an error-strewn first set that barely broke the half-hour mark. The Spaniard loosened up in the second set, consistently hitting a heavy ball with depth to keep the Argentine on his heels, but then mentally collapsed, winning only one of the next eight games.

"The four games I played to go 4-0 up were near my best," Ferrero said. "I was hitting my forehand great. He looked like he had given up the set but I relaxed too much and he started fighting again."

Coria and Nadal have met only once on tour, in 2003 at Monte Carlo where the diminutive Argentine prevailed in straight sets.

The doubles final will be Americans (3) Bryan/Bryan (d. (6) Llodra/Santoro 6-0, 6-4 in the semifinals) vs. (5) Paes/Zimonjic (d. (4) Arthurs/Hanley 6-3, 6-4).

Unseeded Henin Faces Dementieva in WTA Charleston Final

In only her second tournament back after a knee injury and energy-sapping illness, unseeded Justine Henin-Hardenne reached the final of the WTA stop in Charleston with a 7-6(4), 7-5 win over 17-year-old Tatiana Golovin.

"It's a bonus for me, but now I am in the final I want to win," said Henin-Hardenne who fought through the gusty conditions to advance. "It's great to feel this way again but it's only one step. Another step, but a very important step...I didn't play my best in the two sets but at the end when I had to play well on the important points I was very aggressive and I did a good job."

Henin-Hardenne failed to serve out the first set at 6-5 before securing the tiebreak, and was a point from an 0-3 deficit in the second set. The final is the first for the Belgian since the 2004 Olympics.

In the final Henin-Hardenne will face No. 2 seed Elena Dementieva, who defeated No. 8 seed Swiss Patty Schnyder 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.

Henin-Hardenne has beaten Dementieva in six of their seven meetings.

"Physically she seems to be stronger," Dementieva said of Henin-Hardenne. "She's a little bit bigger than she was and I think she's a bit more powerful. All she needs is...to get her confidence back."

The doubles final will be Iveta Benesova/Kveta Peschke (d. Raymond/Stubbs after getting bageled in the first set in the semis) vs. Conchita Martinez/Virginia Ruano Pascual (d. Dominguez Lino/Medina Garrigues).
 
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