KITZBUHEL, Austria -- French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero defeated Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) Wednesday at the Generali Open.

	Albert Costa lost a close battle to Nicholas Massu.

The top-seeded Ferrero, runner-up in Kitzbuhel last year, can take the lead in the ATP Champions Race by reaching the quarterfinals.

"It was a tough, very tough match," Ferrero said. "But since it was my first match here, I expected it to be hard."

The 19-year-old Verdasco was 0-3 on clay this year before his first-round victory over Anthony Dupuis.

In another match Wednesday, three-time Kitzbuhel champion Albert Costa lost to Nicolas Massu of Chile 7-6 (9), 5-7, 6-7 (0).

The fourth-seeded Costa was trying to join Guillermo Vilas as the tournament's only four-time winners. In the final set, Costa wasted a 3-0 lead and allowed Massu to win five straight games.

Massu will face 14th-seeded Sargis Sargsian, a 7-6 (4), 6-1 winner over Albert Portas.

Second-seeded Guillermo Coria beat Andreas Vinciguerra 6-3, 6-4 to qualify for the next round.

Coria, coming off a victory in Stuttgart, will face Olivier Mutis, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over 16th-seeded David Sanchez.

Seventh-seeded Gaston Gaudio defeated Thomas Behrend 6-4, 6-3 in a match that was halted by rain on Tuesday. Also, eighth-seeded Juan Ignacio Chela defeated Frantisek Cermak 6-1, 6-3.