Former French Open champion Albert Costa of Spain outlasted Mariano Zabaleta of Argentina 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5 on Monday to advance to the second round of the Paris Masters.
Costa, the 2002 Roland Garros winner, broke Zabaleta at 5-5 in the third set and then served out the match after 2 hours, 27 minutes.
Costa, seeking his first title of the year, faces Madrid Masters runner-up Nicolas Massu of Chile in the second round.
In other first-round matches, Karol Beck of Slovakia defeated Robby Ginepri of the US 7-6 (5), 6-4; French qualifier Gregory Carraz downed Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3); and Tim Henman of Britain beat Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 6-3, 6-4.
Henman, a four-time Wimbledon semifinalist, also beat Davydenko en route to winning the Washington International Series this summer -- his only title of 2003.
Henman faces Sebastien Grosjean in the next round and is looking to even the score after losing to the Frenchman in this year's Wimbledon quarterfinals.
"It's a good opportunity for revenge on his home turf," Henman said. "There's a lot more at stake for him than me, although there are not too many weaknesses in his game."
Also, Hicham Arazi of Morocco defeated French prospect Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-5, 6-4 and meets countryman Younes El Aynaoui in the second round.
Overcome by shaky nerves in front of the partisan crowd, the French 21-year-old conceded 35 unforced errors and made only 45 percent of his first serves.
"I played badly," Mathieu said. "I'm a very long way off my best level."
Frenchman Nicolas Mahut fared better, securing a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over Jarkko Nieminen of Finland. He faces a daunting second-round match against top-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain.
Seventeen-year-old Richard Gasquet of France served 18 aces but blew six match points against Gaston Gaudio of Argentina -- who eventually triumphed 1-6, 7-6 (11), 6-4.
Gasquet blitzed Gaudio in the opening set, which lasted just 21 minutes. But, badly affected by nerves, he made several unforced errors in the second-set tiebreaker and handed Gaudio a reprieve.
"I should have been more aggressive," Gasquet said.
In other matches, Victor Hanescu of Romania beat Wayne Ferreira of South Africa 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 and next takes on US Open champion and No. 2 seed Andy Roddick; Thierry Ascione of France beat Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina 6-0, 6-3 and meets Wimbledon champion and No. 3 seed Roger Federer; while Fabrice Santoro of France beat Max Mirnyi of Belarus 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.
James Blake of the US defeated hard-hitting Chilean Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 6-4. Blake, who also beat Gonzalez in last year's Paris Masters, next faces fifth-seeded Rainer Schuettler of Germany.
"[Schuettler] does not give you any free points. He's one of the top players on the circuit right now," Blake said.
Also, Andrei Pavel of Romania beat Karol Kucera of Slovakia 7-6 (4), 6-2.
Despite the presence of three current Grand Slam winners, the US$2.88 million Paris event -- the ninth and final Masters tournament of the year -- has been hit hard by withdrawals.
Frenchman Arnaud Clement withdrew Monday, citing a right thigh injury. Spain's Carlos Moya, Russians Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin and Britain's Greg Rusedski all pulled out earlier with injury.
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