Nadal Beats Coria to Win China Open

Saturday, September 17th 2005, 5:51 am

By: News On 6

BEIJING (AP) _ Rafael Nadal cranked up his game after losing the first set, beating Guillermo Coria 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 Sunday to win the China Open on a noisy, festive night for his 10th title this year.

Nadal, the French Open champion, also defeated Coria in the finals at Monte Carlo and Rome this season.

In the first set, Nadal lost his serve twice before surging ahead 5-0 in the second against the second-seeded Argentine. Coria had double-faulted on break point, putting the top-seeded Spaniard up 2-0. Nadal turned up the pressure with booming serves and crushing shots down the line.

``In the second and third sets, I played a little bit more aggressively,'' Nadal said. ``I think that was the decisive thing. ... When I play well, it's important for the confidence.''

Sunday was the mid-autumn moon festival, a traditional Chinese holiday, and the din of firecrackers and honking car horns on the street outside could be heard inside the Beijing Tennis Center. Nadal at one point rushed forward and then promptly hit straight into the net as a sudden burst of firecrackers sounded outside.

Coria had rallied in his semifinal against Thomas Johansson, coming back from three match points against him, but he couldn't pull off the same feat Sunday. Nadal needed one match point, which Coria hit long.

In the doubles final, Justin Gimelstob of the United States and Nathan Healey of Australia defeated Russians Dmitry Tursunov and Mikhail Youzhny 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Gimelstob won the China Open doubles title last year with Graydon Oliver.