BUENOS AIRES, Feb 24: Spaniard Carlos Moya won his first title of the year and the 12th of his career on Sunday when he outgunned Argentine Guillermo Coria to win the Buenos Aires Open.

Moya, returning to the venue where he won the first title of his career eight years ago, won 6-3 4-6 6-4 in just under two hours.

Eighth-seeded Coria, aiming to win his first tournament since he was banned for seven months in December 2001 after testing positive for nandrolone, became the third Argentine player in a row to lose in the final of the tournament.

Jose Acasuso was thrashed by Gustavo Kuerten two years ago and Agustin Calleri surrendered to Chile’s Nicolas Massu last year after losing two match points.

Coria complained of pain caused by an injury to his left foot but Moya said he was not aware that his opponent was struggling.

Moya, who finished fifth in the Champions Race last year after adding four titles to his collection, dominated the first set from the baseline.

Coria, backed by a 6,000 crowd, capitalised on Moyas unforced errors to level the match in the second.

The third set was evenly balanced until Moya broke serve in the fifth game, enough for him to win the title.

“The key break was in the fifth game of the last set, that gave me more confidence because I knew it would be tight with few breaks,” Moya said.

“I made a lot of daft mistakes in the second set. You have to keep the pressure on Coria and I gave him chances which he took.

Organisers said a record of more than 50,000 tickets were sold for the seven-day long tournament but its future remains in doubt because of Argentinas dire economic situation.

SANTORO WINS