BARCELONA, (AFP) - Juan Carlos Ferrero won a battle of former French Open champions on Thursday as he ended the career of friend and rival Albert Costa 6-1, 5-7, 7-5 in the third round of the Barcelona Open. Costa, the 2002 Roland Garros champion who beat Ferrero in four sets to claim the 2002 title in Paris, had said he would retire when his run in Barcelona concluded.
Tenth seed Ferrero, who lifted his own Paris trophy a year later, smashed down an overhead for match points and spelled the end for his 30-year-old compatriot as Costa sent a backhand return wide.
A sellout crowd at the real Club de Tenis gave father-of-two Costa a standing ovation after he and Ferrero shook hands and embraced at the net.
Costa, the 1997 Barcelona champion and 2002 finalist, won a dozen career titles and ended with a 21-13 record at this home event.
He also played on Spain's 2000 Davis Cup championship team.
Ferrero will Friday test himself in a quarter-final against new Spanish hope Nicolas Almagro, who benefitted from 14 double faults from 2004 French Open runner-up Guillermo Coria to earn a 6-2, 6-0 win.
Coria, who spent several weeks in March trying to improve his game with noted coach Jose Higueras, had little to show for his efforts in the 51-minute third-round hammering.
His serving debacle came a week after striking 23 double faults in the Monte Carlo Masters quarter-finals last week.
Coria's loss to Almagro, whom he had beaten in their only other meeting two years ago in Hamburg, mocked his showing last week in the principality.
"I'm calm because I have a great team working with me", said the Argentine. "Sooner or later, I'll return to my best level."
Almagro is following the early development pattern set by Spanish prodigy Rafael Nadal, the tournament top seed and defending champion.
The 20-year-old Almagro, currently ranked a career-best 57, won his first title in Valencia two weeks ago after reaching semi-finals in Acapulco and quarter-finals in Costa do Sauipe earlier in the season.
"Guillermo is a born fighter, he'll overcome this," said Almagro. "But beating the number nine in the world means a lot for my game."
Top seed Nadal, attempting to win his 44th consecutive match on clay, was playing a third-round match against a compatriot from qualifying, the 164th-ranked Ivan Navarro Pastor.
