ATP

• Ferrero claims clay court title in Croatia

  Umag, Croatia (Sports Network) - Fourth-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero defeated Potito Starace, 6-4, 6-4, in Sunday's final of the $450,000 Studena Croatia Open.

  Ferrero, who was defeated in the final last year by Nikolay Davydenko, won his third title of the season. He broke Starace's serve to take a 2-1 lead in the opening set and never trailed the rest of the way.

  The Spaniard broke Starace once more in the second set and did not face a break point on his own serve throughout the 80 minute match.

  The 30-year-old Ferrero was a two-time winner during the Latin American "GoldenSwing"in February, emergingvictorious at Costa du Sauipe and Buenos Aires. He was defeated by David Ferrer in the finals in Acapulco.

  This year is the first time since 2003 that Ferrero has won at least three titles in a season; he won four times in 2001 and 2003.

  Ferrero is 15-18 all-time in ATP finals and beat Starace for the sixth time in their seven meetings.

  Starace remains winless on tour, as he also lost the championship matches at Kitzbuhel and Valencia in 2007.

  08/01 17:57:57 ET