Men's first-round play got under way today, while the women decided the quarterfinal berths. We focus on a probing examination of Martina Hingis's game by Barbara Schett, as well as Juan Carlos Ferrero's ouster at the hands of a Chilean vampire.

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The women

Martina Hingis (1) def. Barabara Schett (16), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
Stadium
4th round
Previous head-to-head: Hingis leads 10-0

Martina Hingis got her stiffest test of the tournament so far from a slightly rather unlikely source. Barbara Schett had never beaten Hingis in ten tries, and had been crushed by the world number one, 6-1, 6-2 last month in Doha. But the blonde from Innsbruck worried Hingis repeatedly in the second set, and may have exposed a certain heavy-leggedness in the Swiss star that could be exploited by opponents in the succeeding rounds.

The first set was a fairly routine one, in Hingis's favour. Schett's strategy was clear. She was angling shots wide in order to move Martina off her controlling position in the centre of the court, just inside the baseline. But the inaccuracy of the Austrian's shots were not allowing the tactics to be effective. It was Hingis, a master of moving opponents around, who was winning at that game, and the first set was a routine 6-3 in Hingis's favour

It looked like more of the same when the Swiss sensation broke Schett's serve at love with some delicate volleying to take a 4-2 second set lead. But Schett, to her credit, gritted her teeth and started stepping into her shots more emphatically. She also feathered short angled shots that Hingis had difficulty reaching. Schett's improved play paid dividends. The Austrian won three straight games, and served to level the match at 5-4. Schett failed to do so, but it was not her fault: Hingis chose the ri ght moment to connect with some inspired forehand and volley winners to stay alive in the set.

So they were tied again at 5-5, and after an exchange of service holds it was off to the tie-break.

• MH serving: Hingis sends a backhand long. 1-0 Schett
• BS: Schett drives a backhand winner. 2-0 Schett
• BS: A Hingis forehand down the line forces a stretching Schett to err. 2-1 Schett
• MH: Hingis forehand winner. 2-2
• MH: Schett follows a big backhand return into the net, and connects with the volley. 3-2 Schett
• BS: Excellent forehand return of serve forces a Schett error. 3-3
• BS: Schett hits some forcing backhands, Hingis fails with a defensive lob. 4-3 Schett
• MH: Schett's running forehand is wide. 4-4
• MH: Hingis again gets Schett on the run and finds the open court with a forehand. 5-4 Hingis (her first lead of the tie-break)
• BS: Hingis wrong-foots Schett with a forehand. 6-4 Hingis, match point
• BS: Schett dumps a routine backhand in the twine. Game set and match Hingis, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).

Hingis admits to having taken a few days off after her wins in the Middle East, and she seems a bit more heavy-legged than she was in Australia in January. While she was unsatisfied with her own game, she credited Schett for her spirited second-set comeback. "I had my chances, being up 4-2 on serve. But she stepped it up a little bit. I was happy winning the tiebreaker at the end, for sure."

Martina's post-match press conference featured some persistent and antagonistic questioning from a local reporter who asked what message she was sending by not attending the WTA awards banquet last night. As another reporter gently reminded his colleague, Martina was not alone in this regard ? 9 of the top 10 players did not attend the event. Martina still dealt with the issue: "Was Venus there?" (She wasn't). "I had to play an early match," explained Hingis, "and Venus got the big award, it was her ni ght. I liked it better when it was at the Chase Championships at the end of the year. This is one of the most important tournaments. It's not worth it to be at the gala and then lose the next day."

Women's quarterfinals are set:

Here are the quarterfinal matchups, as things get down to the proverbial crunch time.

• Martina Hingis (1) vs Silvia Farina Elia (31): Hingis may have looked a tad sluggish today, but that shouldn't stop her from beating Farina Elia. The Italian upset Anke Huber today in one of the many three-set nailbiters around the grounds.
• Kim Clijsters (14) vs Elena Bovina (WC): It will be interesting to see if Bovina, a tall Russian teen with a massive backhand whom Hingis, a frequent practice partner, says is "very talented", can test Clijsters after upsetting Martinez and Dechy.
• Elena Dementieva (8) vs Venus Williams (3): The bottom half of the draw appeared much tougher when the draw was announced, and this has been borne out so far. An intriguing all-Russian Dementieva-Krasnoroutskaya match today was spoiled when Krasnoroutskaya withdrew with a sprained ankle after dropping the first set. Venus recovered from her sloppy win over Cara Black yesterday with a very tidy 6-4, 6-2 win today over upset queen Rachel McQuillan.
• Serena Williams (7) vs Lindsay Davenport (2): The marquee matchup is of course here. Serena and Lindsay have breezed through their first three matches without dropping a set. Serena had beaten Lindsay five times in a row before their most recent meeting, a convincing Davenport win in the U.S. Open semifinals last year.

The men

Nicolas Massu (Q) def. Juan Carlos Ferrero (12), 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (8-6)
1st round
Stadium 2
Previous head-to-head: Ferrero leads 2-0

Two Spanish-speaking players nicknamed after blood-sucking creatures fought tooth and nail for three hours and thirty minutes in a gripping match that most certainly did not "suck". Chilean qualifier Nicolas "El Vampiro" Massu finally got the best of a shaky Juan Carlos "Mosquito" Ferrero in the biggest surprise of the men's opening day.

Ferrero appeared to be one of the players to watch this week, as he rebounded from a slow start to the season with a title in Dubai two weeks ago. But last year's Spanish Davis Cup hero was frustrated by the speedy, determined Chilean's retrieving skills, displayed tennis of uneven quality, and the Mosquito was the one whose nerves cracked in the final moments.

Massu, who like Ferrero is 21 years old, is establishing his roots firmly in the top 100 after a solid junior career that saw him ranked 5th in singles and first in doubles in 1997. He reached the Orlando finals in 2000, losing to his fellow Chilean up-and-comer Fernando Gonzalez, and also was a runner-up in Adelaide this year, where Tommy Haas got the best of him in the final. Massu came back from Australia with a knee injury that forced him to withdraw from a clay-court tournament last month in his hom etown of Viña del Mar, Chile. Judging from all the running he was doing today, the leg is fine now!

The Chilean is a fiery, determined player: he has excellent speed, a two-handed backhand, a big forehand, and a heavy serve that can reach beyond 125 mph. He is not afraid to come to the net, more so than most South American players, and shows nice touch with his volleys. Nicolas also takes a lot of time between points, as he goes through a ritual that involves careful inspection of the balls, adjusting his strings, hitching up his shirt and tugging at his cap. Massu is a bit of a human rain delay, and th e slow play displeased Ferrero. The Spaniard complained several times to chair umpire Carlos Bernardes, but Massu was never given a time violation warning

In the first set, there was an early exchange of service breaks. The more aggressive Ferrero was constantly worrying Massu's serve, but the fearless, grunting Chilean bravely fought his way out of trouble and avoided six break points in the eighth and tenth games to force the tie-break. Massu dominated the tie-break with some impressive forehand winners, and the exuberant Chilean celebrated with the requisite fist-pump and cry of "vamos!!!"

Ferrero started the second set in fine style, winning the first two games. But his game suddenly went to pot. The sandy-haired Spaniard inexplicably began shanking his shots, and quickly lost four games in a row to fall behind 2-4. Ferrero is usually parsimonious with his emotions, but at this point he bounced his racquet angrily off the court. His reaction was positive, as he began stepping into his shots confidently again and putting "El Vampiro" on the defensive. He got back even at 4-4, and again a tie-break would settle the issue. It was all Ferrero in the breaker, as he blasted his way to a 6-1 lead and held off a Massu comeback to win it 7-4.

In the third set Massu again claimed a 4-2 lead, only to see Ferrero once more draw even immediately. The Chilean was starting to look tired, and was now retrieving and putting up tenative and defensive shots. It looked as though Ferrero could win this match just by hitting the open court, but he too was weary and was starting to hit a lot of balls wide of the sideline. For the third time a tie-break was called for, this time to decide the match. Herewith, the summary:

• JCF to serve: Ferrero pushes a forehand wide. 1-0 Massu
• NM: service winner to the body. 2-0 Massu
• NM: Massu pulls a backhand wide. 2-1 Massu
• JCF: Ferrero again pushes a forehand wide. 3-1 Massu
• JCF: Ferrero goes to the net and converts an excellent drop half-volley. 3-2 Massu
• NM: Massu comes in behind his serve and has an easy overhead that he hits just long. Massu thinks it is good and argues slightly, but as the players change ends Ferrero assures him it was out. 3-3
• NM: Ferrero comes in behind a forehand, and Massu rips a crosscourt backhand pass. Ferrero leaves his feet to attempt a diving volley but cannot reach it. 4-3 Massu
• JCF: A blazing Ferrero forehand winner, and the Spaniard pumps the fist. 4-4
• JCF: A long rally ends with a Ferrero forehand error. 5-4 Massu
• NM: Ferrero buffets his opponent from side to side and finishes him off with a forehand. 5-5
• NM: Another long rally, Ferrero botches a routine backhand. 6-5 Massu, match point #1
• JCF: Ferrero blasts a 122 mph ace. 6-6
• JCF: JCF dumps a routine forehand into the net. 7-6 Massu, match point #2
• NM: JCF again dumps a forehand into the net. Massu exults, as well he should. Make the final: 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (8-6)

I had the pleasure of speaking with Nicolas Massu after the match. The weary but happy "Vampiro" was pleased with his big win. Massu is a talkative and engaging chap. He comes across as very sure of his abilities, but not in an arrogant way. Here are the highlights of our interview:

• On his increasingly defensive play late in the match: "I was just trying to put the ball inside the court and I didn't attack. It's very hard to play Ferrero, because he likes to attack before you do. And I was a little bit nervous. He was finally the one who made the mistakes with his forehand at the end."
• He wished he had ventured to the net more, where he is very comfortable. "When I went to the net I win 90 percent of the points. But there are different ways to win a match, and I won the match by running."
• On playing in the shadow of his more famous countryman Marcelo Rios: "We are very close friends. When I came onto the tour he was already top ten and then number one, and he helped me a lot. He showed it was possible for a guy from Chile to be number one."
• On the state of Chilean tennis: "We are playing very good in Davis Cup, and we would like to win the Davis Cup in a few years. Fernando Gonzalez is also a good player, but he needs to be more consistent. He beat me in the Orlando final last year, and we are also very good friends, we live in the same building in Santiago."
• Finally, what's the story behind the "El Vampiro" nickname? "I don't remember who started it. When I was 14 or 15 in the circuits in South America, all the guys started calling me 'Vampiro'. For me it's nice. The people in Chile like the way I play, and the papers will talk about 'El Vampiro', it's nice."

El Vampiro will now attempt to sink his teeth into the solid Czech Bohdan Ulihrach in the second round. Ulihrach has some good memories of Indian Wells: he beat Pete Sampras and reached the final of this tournament in 1997.

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Wandering in the desert

Federer folds

Like Ferrero, Roger Federer was regarded as a man to watch here, and suffered a first round defeat. The unseeded Swiss, who had won 14 of his last 16 matches and holds down 6th position in the Champions' Race, was up a set and a break over another "dangerous floater", Nicolas Kiefer, but fell apart to lose by 6-3, 5-7, 1-6.

Kiefer's comeback proves that one should never take anything for granted in tennis. Federer was so dominant and Kiefer was playing so poorly that I gave up on the match and went in search of more competitive fare. Needless to say, my jaw dropped when I heard the result. The dangerous German, who once was #4 in the world, will now test either Mark Philippoussis or Mardy Fish in the second round.

Old Man Pozzi!

Like a vintage Merlot Grave del Friuli, the 35-year-old Gianluca Pozzi improves with each passing year. Today the ageless wonder had spectators on court 5 shaking their head as his pinpoint accuracy and deft volleys befuddled another veteran lefty, American Jeff Tarango, to the tune of 6-2, 6-0. The tempestuous Tarango took his beating with good humour. After he watched his aged opponent chase after a drop volley and whip a perfect forehand winner, Tarango jokingly asked Pozzi, "How did Dick Gould miss you?" The reference was to the tennis coach at Stanford University, who is known for recruiting the top players in the U.S. Pozzi is old enough to be the father of the players Gould is currently attempting to recruit! Well, almost?.

Quotable quotes

Pete Sampras on the new practice at Indian Wells of not awarding byes to the top male seeds: "Yeah, I've never really liked having byes. You're playing someone that has played a match and is used to the elements? You know, it's nice that everyone starts at the same place."