NEW YORK -- Monica Seles brushed aside the past and the rain Monday to defeat Jennifer Capriati 6-4, 6-3 and advance to the U.S. Open quarterfinals.

With mist briefly halting play several times, Seles dominated from the baseline, erasing any notion that this would be a repeat of the last time she and Capriati got together at the U.S. Open.

In their 1991 semifinal, pitting two young phenoms, Capriati came within two points of victory before Seles won the last five points of the third-set tiebreaker.

Since then, both have been away from the game -- Seles because of a stabbing during a match in Germany, Capriati because of burnout and personal troubles.

After Monday's match, Capriati read a statement in hopes of ending further inquiries into a past that included arrests on drug and shoplifting charges. She began crying when asked if she saw the media as her adversary.

Capriati, 23, said she "made mistakes by rebelling, by acting out in confused ways. But it was all due to the fact I was very young and I was experiencing my adolescence."

Capriati has won two of her last three matches against Seles, including the previous one, in Chicago in 1996.

This time, the fourth-seeded Seles kept Capriati pinned deep on the baseline, answering her shot for shot, angle for angle. She hit 21 winners to 13 for Capriati.

"She played well the whole match," Capriati said. "I never found my groove. I forgot how tough she was. In her tennis and mentally, she didn't give me anything."

Seles will next face No. 7 Serena Williams, who defeated No. 16 Conchita Martinez 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.