STUTTGART (Germany), July 18: Former world No 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, playing only his third tournament of the year, demolished fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar to win the Mercedes Cup on Sunday.

Ferrero, who has dropped from 28th to 85th in the ATP rankings in a year plagued by knee and wrist injuries, won the rain-delayed final between the two non-seeds 6-4, 6-0.

It was the 16th ATP title of his career, although the 31-year-old won 11 of those between 1999 and 2003.

Ferrero, 31, was world No 1 for eight weeks in 2003, the year he won the French Open. His career has never since reached those heights although he put together a 14-match unbeaten run last year, winning successive tournaments in Buenos Aires and Costa da Sauipe.

Andujar, 25, was attempting to win the third title of his career.

SODERLING CRUSHES FERRER

BASTAD (Sweden): Top seed Robin Soderling swept aside the challenge of Spain's David Ferrer to win the Swedish Open final 6-2, 6-2 here on Sunday.

The Swede, ranked fifth in the world, broke Ferrer's serve in the first game of the rain-delayed final and never looked back taking the next game without conceding a point and romping through the first set.

Soderling started the second set in a similar manner, breaking a frustrated Ferrer in the opening game and racing out to a 4-0 lead.

The second-seeded Spaniard fought back strongly, saving a flurry of break points before breaking Soderling in the sixth game to stay in the match.

But Soderling, who lost to Ferrer's compatriot Nicolas Almagro in last year's final, struck back immediately, breaking back in the seventh game before serving out for the match as the sunshine finally broke through.

Ferrer, who won the Bastad tournament in 2007 and beat Soderling at the quarter-final stage in 2008, had no answers to the Swede's punishing ground strokes.

It was Soderling's fourth ATP victory of the season and his second Swedish Open title.

MEDINA GARRIGUES WINS PALERMO OPEN

PALERMO (Italy): Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues clinched her fifth Palermo Open claycourt title on Sunday when she defeated Slovenia's Polona Hercog 6-3, 6-2 in the final.

Medina Garrigues, who also won in Sicily in 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2006, now has 10 career claycourt titles, one better than Venus Williams among active players.

Sunday's final was the 20-year-old Hercog's second in a week, having won the Bastad event in Sweden last Sunday.—Agencies