Experience was not a factor as teenage sensation Rafael Nadal overcame defending champion and three-time finalist Guillermo Coria to win the Masters Series Monte Carlo on Sunday.
Nadal, the 11th seed from Spain, stormed out to a commanding lead over the sixth-seeded Coria from Argentina before closing out a 6-3 6-1 0-6 7-5 victory.
The 18-year-old Nadal, who was the first teenager to reach the final here since 19-year-old Andrei Medvedev won in 1994, took 12 of the first 16 games before seemingly taking a breather in the third set.
Coria, who won this clay court event last year after being the runner-up in 2003, needed just 26 minutes to sweep the third to give him a foothold in the match.
Nadal and Coria split the first 10 games of the fourth set before Nadal clinched his fourth career title with a passing shot on his second match point.
With the victory, Nadal improved to an ATP Tour-best 20-2 on clay and 30-6 overall this season.
Coria's loss was just his fourth in 24 matches in this event.
At 18 years, 10 months, Nadal became the second-youngest ATP Masters Series winner, trailing only American Michael Chang, who won at 18 years, five months in Toronto in 1990.
Nadal, who lost to Roger Federer of Switzerland in the final of the Nasdaq-100 last week, avoided a rematch with the top-ranked player in the world when fellow 18-year-old Richard Gasquet of France beat Federer in Friday's quarter-finals.
Nadal defeated Gasquet 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 6-3 on Saturday.
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