Second seed Juan Carlos Ferrero became the latest big-name casualty at the Cincinnati Masters on Wednesday when he was stunned 6-7 7-6 6-4 by Argentina's Gaston Gaudio in the second round.

The Spaniard, who had looked so comfortable in his previous match, was a pale imitation against Gaudio and became the 10th seed to fall at the $2.45 million event.

While world number one Andre Agassi withdrew before the tournament began, fourth seed Carlos Moya and fifth seed Lleyton Hewitt were first round losers.

Third seed Roger Federer of Switzerland -- who plays later on Wednesday -- is the highest remaining seed.

Guillermo Coria, the leader of a band of stylish Argentines, safely progressed to the third round when Yevgeny Kafelnikov retired hurt. The Russian was trailing 6-0 5-4.

It took Coria's recent run to 17 wins from his last 18 matches -- the only blemish a hamstring injury which forced him to pull out from a first round match at the Montreal Masters last week.

Normally such a demure character, Ferrero's displeasure was evident from his cries of anguish as Gaudio steadily exposed his deficiencies on centre court.

The world number three had taken just 55 minutes to defeat Russian Nikolay Davydenko for the loss of just two games on Tuesday.

But the longer Gaudio delayed Ferrero on Wednesday -- his misery ultimately lasted two hours, 41 minutes -- the@Gaudio loosened his opponent's grip on the match.

Gaudio managed to sneak the second set tiebreak courtesy of a searing backhand, and his patience in the deciding set was rewarded in the 10th game.

Serving to stay in the match, Ferrero's concentration and application wavered once too often.

Two errors and a Gaudio winner suddenly brought up three match points and, although he saved one, a poor forehand into the net encapsulated Ferrero's mood.

American wildcard Todd Martin ousted Spain's Feliciano Lopez 7-6 6-4. Martin's compatriot, Robby Ginepri, continued his quiet progress, overcoming Israeli qualifier Noam Okun 7-6 6-4.

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