Guillermo Coria claimed his first title of the year with victory over Carlos Moya in the final of the Croatian Open on Sunday.

The second-seeded Argentinian saw off the challenge of his Spanish opponent with a 6-2 4-6 6-2 triumph to lift his ninth career trophy.

The 23-year-old Coria, who improved to 22-4 on clay this year, beat Moya for a fifth successive meeting after losing their inaugural two encounters.

Number six seed Moya entered the match with an amazing 22-1 record since 2001 in the claycourt event, having won in 1996 and every year between 2001 and 2003.

But the 28-year-old, the 1998 French Open champion, was unable to find an answer to Coria, whom he had not met since his straight-sets defeat to the Argentinian in the 2004 Roland Garros quarter-finals.

Moya was aiming for his 19th career title.