Costa on course for fourth
Austrian Open crown

French Open champion Albert Costa cruised into the last 16 of the Austrian Open on Wednesday with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Juan Antonio Marin, keeping him on course for a fourth Austrian title.

The top seed from Spain was a winner on the Tyrolean resort's clay in 1995, 1998 and 1999 as well as a finalist last year. He needed just over an hour to beat Costa Rican Marin.

"It looked easier from the result than it was -- he managed to put me under pressure," Costa said, referring to the second set where the two baseliners traded breaks until the Spaniard's deciding break in the seventh game.

Costa said his first Grand Slam win at Paris last month had made him mentally stronger and more confident.

"Here I think I'm going to play good," he added.

Costa's second-seeded compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero also advanced into the third round while ninth seed Marcelo Rios made a swift exit.

Ferrero, gunning for his second title of the year after Monte Carlo, made heavy weather of seeing off Georgia's Irakli Labadze 6-4, 6-4.

Ferrero next plays unseeded Dutchman Martin Verkerk, who dispatched 14th seed Hicham Arazi of Morocco.

Chile's Rios, a winner of 18 tournaments, looked off-form in losing 7-5, 6-4 to French qualifier Jean-Rene Lisnard.

SHORT SHRIFT

Eleventh seed Stefan Koubek kept alive hopes of a first Austrian win since Thomas Muster in 1993 by giving short shrift to Romanian Adrian Voinea. The Austrian raced through a 6-2, 6-3 victory in just 53 minutes.

"I started well, felt good although a bit nervous," the Austrian number one said. "He (Voinea) made a lot of easy mistakes and let me play my game."

Tenth seed Juan Ignacio Chela, fresh from beating Costa to win the title in Amsterdam last week, beat his Argentine compatriot Guillermo Coria 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2).

Already through on Tuesday to the third round of this last major clay tournament of the year are defending champion Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador and 2000 Kitzbuehel champion Alex Corretja of Spain.