Juan Carlos Ferrero may have to take part in qualifying for an ATP event for the first time since 1999 as part of his build-up for the French Open.

After losing a tight three-setter to top seed Carlos Moya in the second round of the Estoril Open claycourt event, Ferrero said qualifying might be his only option to get some match practice before Paris next month.

The 2003 Roland Garros winner was denied a wildcard for the Masters series in Rome next week and is still waiting to hear after applying for the Hamburg Masters the week after.

"I definitely won't play in Rome and if I want to play in Hamburg, maybe I will have to do qualifying," the Spaniard said. "I thought they were going to give me wildcards in both tournaments but they didn't.

"For sure it's not good for me to be missing two Masters tournaments but I haven't played qualifying for a long time. I don't know yet what I'm going to do."

After a brilliant 2003 in which he became world number one and won the French Open as well as reaching the US Open final, Ferrero suffered from injury and illness in 2004.

He dropped out of the top 30 for the first time in five years and has spent 2005 trying to regain his form.