French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero struggled into the Generali Open third round on Wednesday as fellow Spaniard Albert Costa exited the tournament he has won three times.

Top seed Ferrero overcame a hesitant start and a tenacious opponent in qualifier Fernando Verdasco, winning a cliff-hanger 7-6 7-6 at the 925,000 euro ATP claycourt tournament.

Fourth seed Costa, Kitzbuehel champion in 1995, 1998 and 1999, lost a marathon second-round battle 6-7 7-5 7-6 to unseeded Chilean Nicolas Massu.

Massu, buoyed by his triumph at last week's Dutch Open, refused to buckle under pressure from the Spaniard, who smashed his racket in frustration at his error-riddled game.

Trailing 5-3 in the final set, Costa saved two match points and clawed back to level at 6-6. But his forehand let him down in the tiebreak, in which he failed to register a single point.

"I was lucky in the third set tiebreak. He made too many errors and I had a lot of confidence from my win last week," Massu said.

"This is certainly one of the best victories on clay of my career," the Chilean added.

Costa joined his best friend Alex Corretja as another champion making a swift exit. The Spaniard, who defeated Ferrero in last year's final, lost to Austrian rookie Werner Eschauer in the second round.

HIGH STAKES

Much is at stake for last year's runner-up. Ferrero, playing in his first tournament since Wimbledon, will take over the lead in the ATP Champions Race from Wimbledon champion Roger Federer if he reaches the last eight.

The 23-year-old Spaniard, who has captured three titles this year and 10 in his career, could also take over the world number one spot in the ATP Tour Entry System Rankings from Andre Agassi with victory in the final.

Russian sixth seed Mikhail Youzhny became the next casualty in the high altitude tournament, beaten 6-3 6-3 by unseeded 2001 champion Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador.

Argentine seventh and eighth seeds Gaston Gaudio and Juan Ignacio Chela reached the third round without losing a set. 

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