New York, Sept 05: In the women's draw, Russian seventh seed Anastasia Myskina beat Frenchwoman Mary Pierce 7-6 6-1 in a match which spanned four days because of the weather. When they resumed on Thursday, with Myskina leading 7-6 2-0, she needed just 14 minutes to book a place in the quarter-finals against third seed Justine Henin-Hardenne. "It was weird to wait four days and then play 20 minutes to finish the match," Myskina said. "It's been a tough situation." Italy's Francesca Schiavone followed her into the last eight after upsetting 15th seed Ai Sugiyama 6-7 7-5 6-2. The victory puts the 29th-seeded Schiavone into the last eight of a grand slam for just the second time in her career. She will play American sixth seed Jennifer Capriati later on Thursday. Aside from the many rain delays, Schiavone's match was briefly halted when umpire Lynn Welch was struck on the head with a tennis ball from an errant throw by a ball boy.


Cut and bleeding across the bridge of her nose and side of her eye, Welch received treatment in the chair but said she wanted to continue.


Bureau Report