AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic negotiated three rain delays Wednesday before beating Mikhael Youzhny and reaching the quarterfinals of the Heineken Open.

Second-seeded Ivanisevic beat his 19-year-old Russian opponent 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in a match drawn out over four hours by rain stoppages.

The first delay occurred when Youzhny had won the first set. Two more stoppages as Ivanisevic won the second helped him unsettle Youzhny, he said.

"I am 30 years old. I am 11 years older than him so he has to learn," Ivanisevic said. The "first break helped me a little bit ... he was up, then he has to sit in the locker room thinking, 'now, OK, I have him'.

"It's more pressure on him."

Fifth-seeded Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic, Jerome Golmard of France and David Nalbandian of Argentina also advanced to the last eight.

Novak, the 1996 champion here, beat Fernando Vicente of Spain 6-3, 6-3; Golmard beat Belgian qualifier Gilles Elseneer 7-6 (5), 6-2 and Nalbandian beat Francisco Clavet of Spain 6-3, 6-3.

Two matches were postponed to Thursday because of rain.

Top-seeded Marat Safin of Russia had lost his serve in the opening game of his center court clash with Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden, and was trailing 1-3 when that match was postponed due to rain.

Greg Rusedski fought back from a set down to win his second round tie in the Heineken Open against Czech Republic 's Michal Tabara 5-7, 7-5, 6-4.