On a day when rain postponed four men's fourth-round matches to Tuesday and suspended two women's fourth-round matches in the first set, Henin-Hardenne and Capriati dodged the downpours long enough to book a date into the final eight.

Belgian second seed Henin-Hardenne ousted Russian teen Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-3 to reach her first US Open quarter-final. The Belgian waffled after winning the first 11 games before finally putting away Safina after 57 minutes.

"It was litle frustrating," Henin-Hardenne said. "Two or three times we had to stop. But we finally played. We got it in. It was late. But it's over.

"It's the first time I'm in the quarters. That's great. But I want more."

US sixth seed Capriati defeated Russian 11th seed Elena Dementieva 6-2, 7-5 to reach her third consecutive US Open quarter-final, ignoring a fine mist through the last points to avoid yet another lengthy delay.

"At the end it was a little slippery on the lines but I didn't want to stop," Capriati said. "I just was being extra careful with the way I was moving and being conscious of my feet, not slipping or falling.

"The night goes on and you just want to get it finished. At the end it was starting to come again and I just said, 'No, please stay away.'"

Scattered showers played havoc with the schedule at the year's final Grand Slam event, delaying the start 2 1/2 hours and halting play twice more for several hours before finally convincing officials to relent.

World number one Andre Agassi's match with fellow American Taylor Dent was postponed to Tuesday. Agassi worked out briefly with coach Darren Cahill and Dent before play began but played with son Jaden Gil most of the wet afternoon.

"It's just part of the game," Cahill said. "Andre just relaxed, talked to people, hung out. He's not upset by waiting."

Also Tuesday will me Spanish third seed Juan Carlos Ferrero's encounter with US veteran Todd Martin, Argentine fifth seed Guillermo Coria's match with Swede Jonas Bjorkman and Australian sixth seed Lleyton Hewitt's showdown with Thai 11th seed Paradorn Srichaphan.

"It's difficult," Paradorn said. "You never really know when you're going to play. There's nothing really you can do. You just have to be prepared."

Japanese 15th seed Ai Sugiyama was level 6-6 entering a tie-breaker with Italy's Francesca Schiavone when their match was halted, 12 1/2 hours after it was to have started.

Schiavone won the first game in six minutes and was at deuce in the second when rain struck. Upon resumption, Sugiyama won two points to level 1-1 before water poured once more, setting the stage for the final drenching later.

Russian seventh seed Anastasia Myskina led France's Mary Pierce 4-2 when their match was halted. Henin-Hardenne awaits the winner Wednesday.

Henin-Hardenne and Safina warmed up twice when rain sent them off the court. After the second time, Henin-Hardenne begged officials to let them start. In the end, a match she couldn't wait to start became one she struggled to end.

Safina lost the first 11 games, but 2000 US Open men's winner Marat Safin's little sister bounced back at the finish.

"She started coming back at 5-1 and the crowd was behind her. They wanted more tennis," Henin-Hardenne said. "I got a little nervous trying to finish. I lost my aggressiveness at the end but I came through. It has been a long day."

Capriati, who awaits the Sugiyama-Schiavone winner, started late due to the first rian, then took a 4-0 lead after 13 minutes when rain returned.

Another 26-minute window allow Capriati to stretch the edge to 6-2, 3-2 before the next shower struck.

The final gap allowed Capriati just enough time to finish after losing three games in a row to Dementieva. With drizzle falling, Capriati pressed for her sixth break and hit a backhand volley winner on her first match point to end a 6 1/2-hour drama.

"It was very tough," Capriati said. "After the first and second times, I was all right. But then the third, and I didn't know if it was going to happen again, it was just getting pretty annoying. I was just getting tired.

"It's hard to play matches like that once you actually do get out there because your rhythm is broken up. You are worrying if you are going to get the match in. So it's very difficult."