MONTREAL, Canada -- 1998 Champion Patrick Rafter took up the slack for seeded players with a 6-4, 6-2 third-round win Thursday night over longtime rival Todd Martin at the 2.95-million-dollar masters series.

Gustavo Kuerten, meanwhile, crashed out against American's newest tennis hope.

Rafter, by far the most popular crowd-pleaser left in the draw, dismissed Martin 6-4, 6-2 in a match interrupted for an hour in the first set by light rain.

The Australian now stands 7-3 in the series and has finally won a match against the American in straight sets.

Top seed Kuerten became another victim in the slaughter of the seeds, losing a three-set struggle to fast-rising American Andy Roddick 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-2.

"I can't compare this to any other win," said Roddick. "It's a huge win for me."

The unseeded Roddick, destined for major achievements in the game if he can live up to his teenaged promise, was joined as a third- round winner on a humid afternoon by another young gun, Spanish 21- year-old Juan Carlos Ferrero.

The Iberian also mounted a comeback after dropping the first set, eliminating 16th-seeded American Jan-Michael Gambill 2-6, 7-6 (8-6) 6-3.

Rafter used the weather break to his advantage.

"We found it tough going before the rain. It was windy, and no one was timing the ball very well," he said. "When we came back out, todd seemed a bit flat and I took advantage. I couldn't find any faults in my game today."

Kuerten blamed his own lethargy for the loss Roddick, according to DPA.

"I was focused, but in the end I didn't have much energy left," id the 24-year-old Brazilian, winner of 17 of his last 19 matches. "I've played a lot of matches.

"I was into this match and tried to focus on the points one after the other. But it's a tough situation if you don't stay focussed. I had some problems and started to lose energy."

Frenchman Fabrice Santoro stopped Albert Costa of Spain 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 and Friday faces Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic, a winner over Nicolas Escude of France, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2.

Romanian Andrei Pavel set up a clash with Roddick as he ousted Morocco's Hicham Arazi with the loss of just two games.

German Tommy Haas had to work for almost three hours to overcome Frenchman Jerome Golmard 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).

Haas has played first match of the day at 11 a.m. for three days running and really misses his hotel bed.

"It means getting up at 7:30 every day, and I'm not getting to sleep until 1:30 in the morning right now. I'm not getting much rest and I'm feeling it."

He plays clement for a semi-final spot after the Frenchman knocked out Spaniard Alberto Martin 6-3, 3-6, 6-0.