Coria, Nadal Set Blockbuster Sunday Monte Carlo Final

In a match you're likely to see in the final of next month's French Open, defending Masters Series-Monte Carlo winner Guillermo Coria will take on the hot-handed Rafael Nadal Sunday in the Monte Carlo claycourt final.

Both players struggled in the semifinals Saturday against top talent old and new, Coria against former No. 1 and French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, and Nadal against the Federer-killer and main draw qualifier Richard Gasquet of France.

Play got under way in Monte Carlo almost three hours late due to rain and high winds.

Nadal recovered from an opening-set tiebreak loss to outlast a cramping Gasquet in almost three hours 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-3 in the battle of two 18 year olds.

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).