from his grasp by an inspired Gustavo Kuerten yesterday and said afterwards he felt the Brazilian was ready to reclaim his French Open crown.

Bermuda resident Rafter, who is soon to move into a new home on the Island, would have become the first Australian to top the ATP rankings for 25 years if he had won yesterday's Italian Open final. Instead Yevgeny Kafelnikov stayed on top with Pete Sampras second and Rafter third.

Kuerten produced a superb all-round display on Rome's slow red clay to win the final 6-4 7-5 7-6 (8-6) just a week before the start of the prestigious Paris Grand Slam.

Asked if Kuerten was now the man to beat at Roland Garros, Rafter replied: "Definitely ... I'm not going to say he will win the tournament but he's the one to watch out for. He's the in-form player at the moment.

"Everything he was doing was just too good for me today. On a hard court I feel I could have turned the game around a bit but on clay he was just too good.'' Kuerten, who as a gangly little-known 20-year-old won the first and biggest title of his career in Paris two years ago, confirmed he was ready to take back the French crown from Spaniard Carlos Moya.

"I think I am in the best form of my career,'' the Brazilian said. "I've been playing like this for the past two months. Hopefully I can be in the same shape for the French Open.'' Kuerten, who beat world number one Yevgeny Kafelnikov in straight sets in the third round here and then conquered clay court specialist Alex Corretja of Spain in Saturday's semi-final, recalled how in 1997 he had had no expectations at Paris.

"This time everything is different. I am playing much better, I know how to conserve my energy better, I know how to get my confidence back for important points. It makes a really big difference ...'' Asked who he feared at Roland Garros, Kuerten named his fellow Latins.

"There are a couple of players who are playing very well -- (Albert) Costa, (Felix) Mantilla, (Marcelo) Rios, Moya -- they are great players, everyone knows that.'' Rafter acknowledged he had never really featured in yesterday's match, played in humid, overcast conditions.

"I needed some momentum, something to go my way and it just wasn't happening today,'' he said. "I always felt like I was struggling. I even stayed back but he was just killing me from the baseline. He was always in control. I was always battling.'' Nevertheless, the Queenslander took solace from reaching only the second clay court final of his career and producing his best run of form of 1999.

"It has been an incredible week for me, coming from nowhere to be in the finals of a super nine tournament on clay. I am very, very happy,'' he said.

Asked about his own chances in France, Rafter smiled. "Hopefully the draw will be kind,'' he said.

Pat Rafter: outplayed in yesterday's Italian Open final.