PARIS -- He waited through more than six hours of rain delays, so Andre Agassi wasn't eager to stick around and hit soggy forehands at rainy Roland Garros.

Certainly not in the quarterfinals of the French Open.

Agassi and Juan Carlos Ferrero managed to squeeze in just 36 minutes of tennis Wednesday over two attempts to play separated by five hours.

With rain falling, temperatures dropping and light fading, Agassi motioned the chair umpire, who called the tournament referee.

Enough already.

"I didn't feel that it was good conditions. As far as I could tell, they both agreed," tournament referee Stefan Fransson said.

Fransson spoke with both players before the match and then again on the court before play was finally called off a little after 7 p.m. Play resumed Thursday morning, with Agassi losing the third set 7-5 after winning the second by an identical score. Ferrero won the first on Wednesday 6-3.

Ferrero said he had no say in the decision to stop.

"No one spoke to me," said Ferrero, a French Open semifinalist the past two years.

Grand Slam tournament rules do not specify the conditions for a match to be suspended, essentially leaving the decision to the tournament referee.

In the first quarterfinal Thursday, Alex Corretja needed just three games to finish off a weary Andrei Pavel and advance to the semifinals against Albert Costa.

Corretja, a finalist last year, completed a 7-6 (5), 7-5, 7-5 victory by winning three straight games in a match that started Tuesday night before being suspended by darkness. The match did not resume Wednesday because of rain.

Pavel drove eight hours through the rain Wednesday to Germany for the birth of his son and then turned around and came back to Paris, arriving at Roland Garros around 5 a.m., and getting just three hours sleep.

In a scheduling logjam on center court, Marat Safin and Sebastien Grosjean also have to play their quarterfinal before the women begin their semifinals.

Top-seeded and defending champion Jennifer Capriati will face Serena Williams, just before older sister Venus Williams faces unseeded Clarisa Fernandez.

The Williams siblings, each in her first Roland Garros semifinal, are close to setting up another all-in-the-family Grand Slam final, just as they did last year at the U.S. Open. Venus won that title 6-4, 6-2.

"Without a doubt, they're the two best movers on the tour: Serena and Venus," 1990-92 French Open champion Monica Seles said after her quarterfinal loss to Venus. "That's one of the biggest advantages they have, just their physical strength and height and power."

A first-round loser at Roland Garros last year, Venus hasn't dropped a set in five matches. Serena also has been pounding the ball, showing the clay-court skills that allowed her to capture the Italian Open last month.

Capriati, who's won three of the last five Grand Slam titles, stands in the way of the sisters meeting again.

"To me, it's great to see how well they get along," Seles said. "It's not easy being at the top level like they are and playing against each other."