On The Line arrived fashionably late in the beautiful California desert today. The women's field had already been rocked by upsets yesterday, as Tatiana Garbin and Elena Bovina disposed of 4th-seeded Monica Seles and 5th-seeded Conchita Martinez. More surprises, not quite as earth-shattering but still worthy of note, came today from a pair of Aussies out of the qualifying field ? Evie Dominikovic and Rachel McQuillan -- who were labouring in the anonymity of the Australian satellite circuit as recently a s last fall.

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Evie Dominikovic (Q) def. Nathalie Tauziat (9), 6-4 4-6 7-5
2nd round
Stadium 2
Previous head-to-head: First meeting

The first member of the cast of "The Aussies Who Came in from the Qualies" is 20-year-old Sydneysider Evie Dominikovic, who turned in a solid performance to oust the ageless (well, she does have an age, and it's 33) 9th seed Nathalie Tauziat, in the best match of the day.

It was an up and down performance by the French veteran Tauziat. At times she would go on a tear, serving brilliantly, cracking winners from both sides, and converting some tasty angled volleys. But too often she lapsed out of focus, and sprinkled in careless double faults (9 in total, many at key times), simple volley errors, and short, attackable approach shots. And she was unable to capitalize on some jittery third-set play by her young opponent.

Dominikovic, on the other hand, was focused throughout, pushing the French star hard all the way and only letting down for brief stretches. Tauziat was looking to attack Evie's backhand, which is generally considered her weaker side, but Dominikovic passed effectively off both wings. Dominikovic's first serve was hard and effective, and she manifested enthusiasm and confidence with her positive body language, punctuating her winners by fist-pumping and bellowing "Yes!" and "Come on!"

In the first set, Dominikovic got off to a fast start to lead 3-1, but Tauziat won two straight games to level the set and the players stayed on serve until late in the set. At 4-5, Tauziat serving, the young Aussie put her opponent in quick trouble with two return winners, and converted on her first set point on one of those costly Tauziat double faults, to take a 6-4 lead.

Nathalie responded by firing on all cylinders early in the second set, attacking incisively and cracking winners from all angles to take a 4-0 lead. It was her best sequence of the match. But she let her underdog opponent back in the set with some sloppy play. Evie closed the gap to 3-4, but Tauziat regrouped to take the set 6-4, and force a deciding frame.

Dominikovic drew first blood in the first game of the final set on Tauziat's serve, putting the Frenchwoman in a 0-40 hole. Tauziat fought back to force three deuces, but double faulted on the fifth break point, and it was 1-0 Dominikovic. The Aussie consolidated the break and kept in front, showing impressive composure, until 4-2, when the jitters began to show. Dominikovic made several key errors at this stage, hitting wayward shots that missed the mark considerably, and Tauziat had the break back. "T here was nerves there because I was like, 'Oh my God, I'm in a winning position'," grinned the amiable Aussie after the match. "I was serving 40-15. But Nathalie has been out there for a while. She was in the final of Wimbledon. She's a pretty smart player."

In fact, Tauziat put herself in position to serve for the match at 5-4 by taking three straight games from her nervous young opponent. But with the match on her racquet, it was the veteran who now started to wobble, double faulting yet again to trail 0-30. Dominikovic capitalized at 15-40 on one of the best points of the match: Evie showed great wheels to run down a splendid Tauziat drop volley and whip a backhand winner past Nathalie. Given new life at 5-5, Dominikovic's composure returned and she won t he final two games. A shaky Tauziat sliced a backhand into the net to set up match point for Evie, and the underdog from down under watched another poorly struck Tauziat backhand sail long on match point to seal the big 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 upset.

The happy Aussie yelped and jumped for joy after the match, and most of the fans seemed pleased for her too. Dominikovic appeared to have won some new fans with her feisty and determined play. "This is the biggest win of my career so far, I didn't really expect it," admitted the victor after the match. "I think my serve helped me a lot, at crucial points the returns, and my passing shots also helped me quite a bit." That just about covers it, Evie!

The qualifier Dominikovic, on the strength of third-round appearances at the Australian Open and here, is perhaps finally ready to confirm the potential that many saw in her excellent junior career. Evie explains her slow start in the professionals this way: "I knew I wasn't training as hard as I should have been?. I've been working with Lesley Bowrey (Australia's Fed Cup captain), she's helped me a lot. It's starting to come, and I'm pretty happy."

I would think Evie Dominikovic would have also been pretty happy had you told her before the tournament started that she would be in the third round, and with a match against the competent but beatable Silvia Farina Elia for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Rachel McQuillan (LL) def. Amy Frazier (15), 7-5 7-5
2nd round
Stadium 2
Previous head-to-head: 1-1 (first match since 1995)

Rachel McQuillan went her countrywoman Dominikovic one better in the underdog category, since by all rights she had no business still being in the tournament. McQuillan also had to play the qualifying rounds, but lost in the final round and only got in the main draw as a "lucky loser" because of some injury withdrawals. Now here she is in the third round as well, also after knocking off a seed.

McQuillan is a handy player, aged 29, and was ranked in the top 30 as far back as 1991. But recent injuries sent her rankings back to the triple digits. The blonde-haired native of New South Wales recently announced her return to form in Dubai last month, where she upset Mary Pierce and reached the semis and lost to... Nathalie Tauziat.

McQuillan's opponent today, 15th seed Amy Frazier of the U.S., is known to give opponents fits with her deep, flat shots. But Frazier looked vulnerable today ? too often her drives were hoisted well beyond the baseline. When they did land in court, McQuillan did a good job of scrambling and retrieving them, often mixing in some looping topspin and biting slice to keep the American off balance. The Aussie was not coming to the net as often as she sometimes does, but when she did, her volleying was crisp and authoritative.

The sets were quite similar. In both, Frazier lost her serve in the final game when serving to force a tie-break. On the second occasion, with Frazier serving to stay in the match at 5-6, 40-30, the American sent one of her backhands too long. At deuce, another Frazier error, this time an over-hit swinging volley, set up match point, which McQuillan converted with a well-placed forehand that forced yet another Frazier error. Make the final: 7-5, 7-5 McQuillan.

With her recent performances, McQuillan, who has done television commentary during her periods of inactivity, has indicated that she's not ready to take the microphone on a full-time basis quite yet. Her third round opponent will be another American, the red-hot Meghann Shaughnessy. Shaughnessy, a surprise finalist at Scottsdale last week, easily disposed of qualifier Emilie Loit today.

Magdalena Maleeva (12) def. Tatiana Poutchek (Q), 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-2
2nd round
Stadium 3
Previous head-to-head: first meeting

Another qualifier came close to pulling off the upset here, but came up short this time. The moody and hard-hitting 21-year-old Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus held a match point in the second set tie-break, but collapsed, as Magdelena Maleeva was forced to resort to every trick in her veteran's arsenal to pull out a match that she probably had no business winning.

The blonde-haired, athletic Poutchek is quite a character. When she isn't slamming her impressive strokes, she is gesticulating angrily, remonstrating herself in Russian, or tossing her racquet disdainfully to the court. A veritable emotional tempest, this young woman.

She also can play some impressive baseline tennis. The 5'9" blonde moves well and has excellent footwork, and her hard, heavy topspin was more effective on the slow hard courts here than Maleeva's flatter placements, particularly in the gusty wind that had kicked up in the late afternoon. The favoured Bulgarian always seemed as if she was playing uphill.

The key to the match was the second set tie-break. So let's get to it. Maleeva intelligently ? if somewhat belatedly -- realized that she had to change her game plan dramatically if she hoped to win. And did she ever! (The server's initials appear at the beginning of each line)

• MM: A solid Maleeva backhand forces the Poutchek error. Poutchek thinks the ball is good, argues briefly and drops her racquet to the court. 1-0 MM.
• TP: Poutchek's only ace of the match. 1-1.
• TP: Poutchek runs down a drop shot, and plays well at the net with a backhand volley and overhead winner. 2-1 TP.
• MM: Maleeva tries a net attack this time, but is passed by a Poutchek two-handed backhand. 3-1 TP.
• MM: Maleeva backhand into the net. 4-1 TP.
• TP: Poutchek backhand into the net. 4-2 TP
• TP: Maleeva puts up a moonball and comes into the net behind it. Poutchek's forehand pass is long. SMASH goes the Belarussian's racquet for the umpteenth time. 4-3 TP
• MM: Poutchek's backhand is long. 4-4.
• MM: Maleeva's backhand is long. 5-4 TP.
• TP: Poutchek sends a slice forehand (huh?) into the net. Brain cramp! 5-5
• TP: More Maleeva moonballs, followed by a harder, flat forehand. Poutchek mistimes her backhand and nets it. 6-5 and set point MM.
• MM: More Maleeva trickery ? a drop shot. Poutchek retrives it, but when Maggie attempted lob is too short, and Poutchek puts away the high backhand volley. 6-6.
• MM: Maleeva backhand error after a long rally. 7-6 and match point Poutchek!
• TP: More Maleeva moonballs! Again they force an error, as Poutchek rushes a backhand and pulls it well wide. The Belarussian bends over and stares downward for a good ten seconds, bemoaning her fate. 7-7.
• TP: Poutchek sends a wild backhand wide, and disgustedly slaps her thigh. 8-7 MM, set point number 2 for Maggie.
• MM: This time Poutchek answers a moonball with another moonball, but eventually nets a backhand. The tie-break goes to the crafty Maleeva, 9-7.

After being baffled into blowing a 4-1 tie-break lead and a match point, predictably, the underdog from Belarus disintegrated before our eyes. Figuratively speaking. After being for overpowered for much of the match, Maleeva proved there is more than one way to skin a cat, and escaped with a 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 win. Awaiting Maggie in tomorrow's third-rounder is Spanish lefty Magui Serna, a decisive winner over Gala Leon Garcia today.

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Wandering in the desert

Action around the grounds

Many of the top male players have arrived on the scene and were drawing crowds on the practice courts. But some of the most spirited action took place in an impromptu soccer match involving some of the players and coaches on a grassy area adjoining the practice courts. Cédric Pioline and Hicham Arazi were among those displaying their fancy footwork, gracefully enduring heckling from amused onlookers such as French pros Nicolas Escudé and Arnaud Clément.

Men's qualifying

The first round of men's qualifying was played today. Some of today's winners were in-form players who could cause trouble in the main draw, such as Michel Kratochvil, Ivan Ljubicic, Juan Ignacio Chela and Lars Burgsmuller. We'll talk about the qualies in more detail tomorrow.

Quotable quotes

Martina Hingis on her recent experiences playing in the Middle Eastern cities of Dubai and Doha: "It was a great experience, and it showed the opening of those countries. It was the first women's tournaments there, and that says a lot."

Elena Dementieva, when asked if the Russian pros are friendly to each other: "Yeah, except for one player, yeah." Why is that, Elena? "I don't know, ask her." Gee, I wonder who she could possibly be referring to?.