DEFENDING CHAMPION Thomas Muster crashed out of the Italian Open to Australia's Scott Draper, 7-6 (7/4), 5-7, 7-5, in the second round yesterday.
A day after top seeds Pete Sampras and Michael Chang were dumped out of the tournament in the" first round, third seeded Muster was outgunned by the 21 year old from Brisbane in a three hour marathon in searing heat.
Draper, ranked only 75th in the world but who knocked out German Open winner Andrei Medvedev in round one, made the decisive break in the 11th game of the third set to lead 6-5.
He then served out for the match, shattering Muster's hopes of becoming the first man to win this tournament four times.
Draper now faces either British number one Tim Henman, or Italian qualifier Davide Scala for a place in the quarter finals.
A delighted Draper said: "To beat these two guys over the past two days is a dream come true." He added yesterday: "I beat a player today who's probably recognised as one of the best clay courters of all time and to have a win like that certainly gives you a confidence boost.
"And the scary part of it all is that I think I actually won over him physically and mentally. I've been working hard over the past six weeks and I haven't won too many matches, and I really needed this."
Muster was then joined on the early casualty list by the man he beat in last year's final, Richard Krajicek, as Germany's Marc Kevin Goellner beat the fifth seeded Dutchman 7-6, 7-6.
Jim Courier, meanwhile, followed up his victory over Sampras by beating Spain's Albert Portas 7-6, 6-2.
Courier, who won this tournament in 1992 and 1993, now meets either Switzerland's Marc Rosset or Spanish qualifier Emilio Alvarez for a place in the quarter finals.
Hernan Gumy, who had beaten Chang yesterday, had no such luck in the second round as the Argentinian lost 6-1, 6-4 to Spain's former double French Open winner Sergi Bruguera.
