French Open champion and top seed Albert Costa raced into the quarter-finals of the Austrian Open on Thursday to set up a clash with Alex Corretja, best man at his wedding last month.

After a long delay due to pouring rain at the Tyrolean mountain resort, the Spaniard wasted no time in beating Germany's Michael Kohlmann 6-1 6-1 under a threatening grey sky.

"I played very well today. I was very confident, serving and returning well and I was solid from the baseline," Costa said.

Costa, a finalist last year, is chasing his fourth Kitzbuehel crown after winning in 1995, 1998 and 1999.

'Great player'

But the 27-year-old from Barcelona faces a tough battle in the last eight.

Costa will play his best friend Corretja, the eighth seed and 2000 Kitzbuehel champion who swept aside French qualifier Jean Rene Lisnard 6-3 6-2 in the third round.

"It's going to be a very tough match," Costa said. "He's a great player so I'm going to have to play 100%."

Costa has beaten Corretja in their only two encounters this year, including the semi-finals of the French Open.

Austria's hopes of a home winner were ended when Stefan Koubek was beaten in three sets by Gaston Gaudio.

Gaudio, who has won two titles this season, lost the first set but stormed back to prevail 3-6 6-1 6-0.

Second seed Juan-Carlos Ferrero and fourth seed Andrei Pavel also made it into the last eight with straight sets victories.

Thursday's third-round results: