Top-seeded Mariano Puerta of Argentina was upset by unseeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-2, 6-7 (11-13), 7-5 Thursday in third round of the Japan Open, a day after denying allegations of doping.
The French sports newspaper L'Equipe reported Wednesday that Puerta tested positive for the banned drug etilefrine following his four-set loss to Spain's Rafael Nadal in the French Open final and faces a possible life ban for a second doping offense.
Puerta served a nine-month suspension after testing positive for clenbuterol in February 2003 at an ATP tournament in Chile.