NEW YORK -- Despite weather problems that caused rain delays on all three days of the Labor Day weekend, attendance at the U.S. Open is on pace to break records.

Through the first seven days of the season's final Grand Slam event, the Open attracted 362,685 people, up from 348,741 last year. The biggest attendance day was Saturday when 31,872 were on the grounds for the day session, and 22,926 came out at night for a single-day record of 54,798.

The tournament's total attendance record is 584,490, set last year.

TV ratings are up
Tennis fans who can't make it out to the National Tennis Center for the U.S. Open are staying in touch with the tournament.

Ratings for USA Network's coverage are up 13 percent for the first 36½ hours of coverage and primetime ratings are up 9 percent with a 1.2 household rating. Each rating point represents about 1.01 million homes.

The tournament's Web site, usopen.org, recorded 1.8 million visits through the first week of the tournament, an average of 260,000 fans per day from around the world.

Taking her time
Going into the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open, Elena Dementieva was the only unseeded woman in the final eight, and had spent more time on the court than any of the other seven.

Dementieva had logged 6 hours, 24 minutes of court time, almost twice as much as top seed Martina Hingis, who had 3 hours, 16 minutes.

Anke Huber had the second lowest court time at 4 hours, 12 minutes, but her total included a fourth-round victory that lasted just one set when Mary Pierce retired because of a shoulder injury.

Williams sisters raise the bar
Serena Williams believes she and her sister, Venus, raise the level of tennis played by their opponents.

"I think for sure when a lot of players play us, they lift their games," Serena said. "Venus and I definitely have lifted the bars of tennis. People are playing a lot harder, especially against us. They're bringing out their all."

Marathon man
Max Mirnyi figured his four-hour marathon against Magnus Norman would take something out of the No. 3 seed when he returned two days later to play No. 14 Nicolas Kiefer.

'"The fact that we were out there for I think over four hours doesn't help you stay fresh throughout the fortnight," Mirnyi said. "Even though he's fit and tough, it could take its toll on him."

Mirnyi turned out to be right. Norman played another three-hour match Tuesday, losing in four sets to Nicolas Kiefer.