PARIS, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Gustavo Kuerten's season-ending skid continued Thursday as the world's No. 1 player suffered a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 defeat at the hand of Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands at the Tennis Masters Series-Paris.
Kuerten, the top seed who leads the ATP with six titles in 2001, has lost six of his last seven matches dating to his setback in the U.S. Open quarterfinals in September.
The Brazilian was not the only upset victim Thursday. No. 5 Marat Safin of Russia fell to Swede Andreas Vinciguerra, 6-4, 6-4, ending his chances of qualifying for the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in two weeks.
No. 3 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain also was eliminated, losing to Moroccan Hicham Arazi, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
Kuerten had beaten Schalken in all seven of their encounters prior to Thursday. The reigning French Open champion rallied past the Dutchman in their previous meeting in April at the Tennis Masters Series in Monte Carlo, where Kuerten went on to win the title.
Since falling to Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia in the U.S. Open, Kuerten has experienced first-round embarassment against compatriot Flavio Saretta at the Brasil Open, Croatian Ivan Ljubicic at the Grand Prix of Lyon and Frenchman Julien Boutter at the Swiss Indoors.
He also endured a second-round exit at the Tennis Masters Series in Stuttgart, thanks to being awarded a first-round bye.
By contrast, Kuerten had early-season success on clay at the AT&T Cup and Mexican Open and lifted the Mercedes Cup in July.
He also enjoyed a strong summer on American hard courts, winning 10 consecutive matches to capture the Tennis Masters Series event at Cincinnati and reach the final of the RCA Championships at Indianapolis.
Schalken extended his winning streak to eight matches with his triumph over Kuerten.
The 25-year-old lifted his sixth career trophy and extended his run of winning at least one title to three straight years on Sunday, when he outlasted Finnish qualifier Jarkko Nieminen in the final of the Stockholm Open.
Schalken, 25, lost his only previous finals appearance in 2001, falling to American Andy Roddick in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic at Washington in August.
In Friday's quarterfinals, Schalken will face Vinciguerra.
Safin -- the 2000 champion and 1999 runner-up here -- helped Vinciguerra's cause by serving poorly and failing to raise his game at crucial points. The former U.S. Open champion got just 52 percent of his first serves in and saved only one of four break points.
The 21-year-old has left Tommy Haas of Germany and Sebastien Grosjean of France to battle for the final berth in the $3.7 million Tennis Masters Cup at Sydney in two weeks.
Ferrero is another top player in a nosedive, losing four of his last five matches. The Spaniard has won four titles in 2001, but three were captured on clay. Ferrero's record slipped to 54-18 in 2001, including 20-13 in non-claycourt events.
Arazi, who reached the final of the Tennis Masters Series at Monte Carlo, will face Grosjean in the quarterfinals. The sixth seed got past Belgium's Christophe Rochus, 6-0, 3-6, 6-0.
No. 7 Tommy Haas also got the best of a Belgian, downing Xavier Malisse, 7-5, 6-1. Next up for Haas is No. 15 Thomas Johansson. The Swede handled Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador, 6-3, 6-3.
However, there is already anticipation surrounding a potential Haas-Grosjean semifinal encounter. The German leads the Frenchman by 34 points in the ATP Champions Race. The champion here earns 100 points and a semifinalist collects 45, giving Grosjean the opportunity to overtake Haas.
The other quarterfinal pits No. 4 Kafelnikov and Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic. Kafelnikov defeated Albert Costa of Spain, 6-3, 6-4, and Novak knocked off Julien Boutter of France, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).
