Juan Ignacio Chela continued a memorable year for Argentinian tennis by carrying off the Energis Open title at Amersfoort.

The number two seed defeated top-seeded Albert Costa, the French Open champion, 6-1 7-6 in a final shortened by rain from best-of-five to best-of-three.

Chela, who came into the tournament on a four-match losing streak, won his second career title following his triumph in Mexico City in 2000.

Costa was looking to win a 13th career claycourt title to tie Gustavo Kuerten at the top of the list of claycourt titles won by current players.

This year, four Argentinian players have shared five ATP titles, with Guillermo Canas, David Nalbandian and Chela all winning once and Gaston Gaudio a winner at both Barcelona and Mallorca.

Argentines have finished runners-up on another seven occasions, most notably Nalbandian at Wimbledon.

Chela said: "I am really, really happy to have won this tournament. It's a fantastic victory for me, especially defeating the reigning Roland Garros champion.

"I had a great desire to win here. I felt I had control of the match when we came off at 6-1 4-2.

"It is very difficult to come back from a rain break against such an experienced player. After the break he was playing much better and we seemed to be more equally matched. It was tough to finally close out the match.

"To win a tournament, it is the ultimate. There are a lot of very good Argentine players out there now. I hope this will bring a lot of joy to the people of Argentina and my family."

Costa said: "Having won Roland Garros, I feel more confident in myself. Today, however, was an exception. It was too windy for me."