The 20-year-old Russian withstood a determined rival and two separate weather delays in the final set to reach the fourth round.

He advanced by defeating the 28th-ranked Frenchman 6-4, 7-6, 1-6, 3-6, 7-6, returning from a rain break of one hour and 45 minutes to play the final three points of the tie-breaker.

Safin will now face 12th seed Juan Carlos Ferrero.

The 20-year-old Spaniard returned after being off the court more than three hours to play the final six points in a 7-5, 7-6, 1-6, 7-6 victory over Swiss 19-year-old Roger Federer.

Their match was halted at 4-4 in the final set and went to 6-6 before Ferrero ended it with a pair of forehand winners.

Meanwhile, Safin is slowly becoming the tournament's marathon man.

He led 5-4 after the second delay but Grosjean levelled with a forehand winner.

Then Grosjean sprayed a backhand long and a forehand wide to lose a match which lasted far longer than the official time of three hours and nine minutes.

In the first round, Safin was pushed for two hours and 50 minutes in a 7-5, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Frenchman Thierry Guardiola.

And he needed three hours and eight minutes to subdue the oldest man in the field, 35-year-old Italian Gianluca Pozzi, by 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in round two.