PARIS -- Andre Agassi was dancing in the rain as he left Roland Garros Center Court on Saturday in a driving storm after making it safely through to the fourth round.

Agassi, a broad smile on his face, skipped off the court after a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory against Brazilian Fernando Meligeni. Agassi then returned to take his now traditional bows to the applause of the crowd, including girlfriend Steffi Graf, who sat through the final part of the match huddled under her coat seeking protection from the rain.

"At the end it just kind of felt like, it was about everything except tennis," Agassi said. "It was like, 'just win, don't worry about how you're swinging, don't worry about anything, just find a way to finish this thing off right now'."

The gritty performance in difficult conditions underlined the third seeded American's determination to add a second French Open title to his collection and remain on course for what would be a historic Grand Slam.

The Las Vegas showman did not appear to be particularly enjoying himself early in the contest as he struggled to tame the tricky Meligeni, who flung himself across the court returning shots.

"He's a phenomenal competitor, always lays his heart out there," said Agassi, a seven-time Grand Slam winner. "He truly enjoys the game as much as anyone I've ever seen."

Agassi, who arrived in Paris with only one win on clay this season, looked as comfortable on the Roland Garros Center Court as he did in 1999 when he lifted the trophy.

The match began in cool, blustery conditions and ended in worse.

Agassi suffered a lapse in concentration after an eight-minute rain delay in the second set, which allowed his opponent to square the match.

He responded by taking the third set -- dropping only one game -- and an early break in the fourth put him firmly on the way to victory.

Leading 5-3 with darkness and a heavy rain falling on Paris, Agassi admitted that he dug in determined to close out the match not wanting to have to complete it the next morning.

"When it comes to winning a tournament like this, luck plays a big part," explained Agassi, who will now meet 16th seed Franco Squillari of Argentina in the last 16.

"Even today, to play fourth on a day they expect bad weather is not lucky.

"You want to get your match in.

"To find yourself playing three days in a row at the wrong time, against the wrong player could be the end of you.

"So it was nice just to finish it off and still have time to have a good dinner tonight."