Capriati's Open defence stays on track

Defending champion Jennifer Capriati bulldozed her way past Italy's Rita Grande 6-3, 7-6 on Monday to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.

She meets seventh seed Amelie Mauresmo in the last eight after the Frenchwoman was made to work hard for her 6-0, 4-6, 7-5 win over German Marlene Weingartner.

But Belgium's Justine Henin wasted no time, marching through with a no-nonsense 6-0, 6-3 victory over 12th seed Elena Dementieva.

The sixth-seeded Henin barely put a foot wrong against Dementieva and waits for compatriot Kim Clijsters in the quarters. Clijsters plays Slovak Janette Husarova later on Monday.

In the men's draw, 1998 runner-up Marcelo Rios beat 23rd seed Nicolas Lapentti 7-5, 6-1, 6-4.

He will meet the winner of the match between seventh seed Tommy Haas and 11th seed Roger Federer later on Monday.

It will be the former world number one's first grand slam quarter-final since 1999.

World number one and top seed Capriati showed few signs of the hip injury which has been troubling her as she blasted her way through the opening set.

But Grande's finesse game came together in the second set as she began to hold her own.

Capriati served for the match in the 10th game of the second set but was broken after a long rally featuring high lobs and penetrating groundstrokes and the set went to a tiebreak.

SIMPLE SMASH

Grande held set point at 6-5 but wasted it when she netted a simple smash and lost the match when she double faulted while trailing 10-9.

The match was played with Rod Laver Arena's retractable roof closed after rain earlier on Monday.

Mauresmo earlier was made to toil for her last-eight spot when she took on Weingartner.

The unseeded German upset 10th seed Meghann Shaughnessy in the third round and appeared likely to cause another shock when she fought back after losing the first set to love against Mauresmo in just 19 minutes.

Weingartner slowed the pace down and started hitting delicate chips, moving the ball from side to side and drawing Mauresmo into long rallies rather than trying to match her power.

The tactic unsettled the Frenchwoman and she took the second set 6-4 following a 30 minute rain delay.

NERVE BROKE

The pair twice swapped service breaks in a tense third set before Weingartner's nerve finally broke and she dropped her serve to love in the 12th and final game.

As a teenager in 1999, Mauresmo became the first Frenchwoman to reach the final of the Australian Open since 1922 but was beaten by Martina Hingis.

"I had a very good start in the first set and then maybe I wanted to do too much...and I started to make a few mistakes," a relieved Mauresmo told reporters.

"And then she came back into the match and she started to hit everything...so I had to struggle."

Henin, however, had it all her own way against Dementieva, racing into the quarter-finals with a convincing victory over the Russian.

"I was a little bit afraid of this match, for sure," she said. "She is young and tough and I was concerned but it turned out much easier than I had expected.

"I was playing my best tennis, hitting the ball very well, timing it well and am looking forward to the next round."