When we woke up this morning, the first thing we did was to look out the window. Uh-oh! The wind was back again, and sand was being swirled in the desert air. The conditions never quite got as bad as the violent sandstorm we had on Wednesday, but they were still difficult. Lleyton Hewitt and Tim Henman won their semifinals by adjusting to the wind better than their opponents. And our surprising women's champion, Daniela Hantuchova, achieved her success by playing as if there was no wind at all.

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Women's final

Daniela Hantuchova (18) def. Martina Hingis (2), 6-3, 6-4
Women's final
Previous head-to-head: First meeting

What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time, Daniela Hantuchova (pictured at right) had to play through the qualifying rounds at Indian Wells, and lost comprehensively in the first round of the main draw to Rita Kuti Kis, 6-1, 6-4. Kuti Kis was here again this year, and lost to qualifier Greta Arn in the first round, also by 6-1, 6-4. But Hantuchova has gone up to another level since then.

In her first-ever tour final today, the 18-year-old out of Bratislava played with astonishing composure, blasting 33 winners past heavily-favoured Martina Hingis in a comprehensive 6-3, 6-4, triumph. Hingis had chances in the first set, but when she let those slip by with tentative play and costly mistakes, there was no stopping the Hantuchova express.

Set one

Things started off well enough for Hingis. Hantuchova's serve was broken in the opening game on a Hingis down-the-line backhand. But the Slovak began stamping her mark on the match with down-the-line forehands, and immediately pulled even 1-1 on an errant Hingis backhand. Hantuchova again broke Hingis at 2-3, pumping her fist as Hingis sent another backhand long. With Hantuchova now leading 4-2, Hingis stepped up the pace and pulled back to 4-3 by breaking Hantuchova at love.

But Hingis lost the momentum by promptly losing her serve here. It was a game she could have won, but made a forehand error at 40-30 to give Hantuchova an opening. On the second break point, Hingis double-faulted, handing Hantuchova a 5-3 lead. Daniela had a few adventures serving out the set. Martina earned a break point on a perfect drop shot. Hantuchova turned back the danger impressively, opening up the court impressively and nailing another winning forehand to set up her first set point. The Sl ovak sealed the deal with a strong backhand that was too hot to handle. Shockingly but convincingly, Hantuchova had taken the first set.

Set two

The second set began with Hantuchova, brimming with confidence, racing to a 5-2 lead by ripping winners at will. In the strong winds, Hingis was trying to play safer, percentage shots, but they tended to land too short, and Hantuchova, with a more aggressive position on her baseline, would repeatedly step in and drive high-risk shots as if there was no wind to worry about at all. Hantuchova's down-the-line shots, when they weren't clean winners, repeatedly forced Hingis into frenzied sprints that placed the Swiss star in an impossibly defensive position. As her proud coach Nigel Sears said after the match, "She went for her shots down the line, and she made a stack." Daniela's excellent returns also repeatedly punished Martina's famously weak serves.

Serving at 5-2 and closing in on the title, Hantuchova's nerves began to show. Her strokes began to miss the mark, and a wild forehand at 15-40 that was not even close kept Martina alive. Then with Hingis serving at 3-5, 0-0, Hantuchova didn't make a play a deep Hingis forehand, thinking it was going to land long, but the ball dipped onto the back of the line. Had the Slovak lost her composure? Hingis held easily at love, making some fine shots on the run to pull to 5-4.

The apparently rattled Hantuchova now serves for the match for a second time. The Indian Wells crowd, which has never been overly fond of Hingis and was clearly enthralled by the bold young underdog, is in Hantuchova's corner. The Slovak still looks tense. At 30-15, she dumps a routine backhand into the net. 30-30: she hits a winning serve out wide. 40-30: Hingis saves the first match point by attacking a tentative Hantuchova backhand and finishing off the point at the net. Deuce: the bold Daniela r eappears, and confidently nails a strong serve and a backhand winner. Match point #2: another clean backhand winner up the line. Game set and match, Hantuchova, against all odds.

The young champion holds her head in her hands in joy, then raises her arms in triumph to salute the cheering crowd. Hantuchova then walks to her support section to hug her mother (who travels with her and has been her all week), her father (who flew in from Slovakia for the final), and her British coach Nigel Sears (best known as Amanda Coetzer's former coach). Then she jogs to a section behind the court to hug a mysterious dark-haired man!

The ever-popular trophy ceremony

Accepting the runner-up trophy, Hingis thanked the crowd for coming out, and congratulated Hantuchova on her title. "You were too good today." We had difficulty catching the next bit clearly, but she added something like, "In Miami, maybe I'll stand in your way." Some in the crowd clucked disapprovingly at Martina's warning to the young upstart.

Hantuchova, who sounded a little flustered in her first speech as a tour champion, accepted the big trophy and a hefty $332,000 cheque. She thanked her mom, dad and coach for their support, as well as Ricardo (evidently the name of the mysterious dark-haired man). "I enjoyed every minute: it's a dream come true." Daniela also offered some kind words for Martina, saying this win is special since it came against her. "I have a lot of respect for what you have achieved, both on and off the court."

Post-mortem

It was quite a breakthrough week for Daniela Hantuchova. The tall, thin Slovak in the red tennis dress with the impossibly long limbs reached her first final, won her first title, and in a Tier I tournament to boot. In the process she beat two elite players (Hingis and Justine Henin) as well as two other higher-ranked players (Barbara Schett and Lisa Raymond). She becomes the lowest-ranked player ever to win this tournament, and her ranking will rocket from 26 to 17 next week.

Hantuchova did it by playing the same aggressive and proficient tennis we saw all week. She is deceptively quick around the court, has good size at 5' 11" (181 m), and smooth strokes off both sides that appear fundamentally sound. She takes the ball early and hits with fast pace off both sides, and can surprise with risky winners from anywhere on the court. And she rarely backs off from the game plan. Today, neither the pressure of the moment nor the tough, windy conditions made her deviate from her s tyle. "I was just trying to go for my shots and play my game. Worked out quite well," added the youngster with a smile.

This kid is not only talented and mature for her age, but also very ambitious. She has made no secret that her ultimate goal is to become number one. For this year, her goal had been to become top-20 by the U.S. Open, and top-16 by year's end. Since Daniela will already be #17 next week by virtue of this title, she is way ahead of the schedule. "So we have to reset," said her coach Sears, "and move that to the top ten." From what we saw today, don't bet against it.

Martina Hingis, who is given fits by players who play high-risk, power tennis from the baseline, was asked to compare Hantuchova to her other hard-hitting nemeses such the Williams sisters, Capriati, Davenport and Clijsters. "It's not like she would hit as hard. But it's very deep, very long. It's very difficult to do something with it, very well-placed." The closest comparison is to Davenport, except that Hantuchova "is younger, she's faster. She's closer to the lines. Lindsay, you've sometimes got more time to do something with it."

In other words, in Daniela Hantuchova we have yet another "big girl" for the embattled Hingis to deal with. But Martina says she's up for the challenge. "You know, just try to adjust and get better next time."

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Men's semifinals

Lleyton Hewitt (1) def. Pete Sampras (10), 6-2, 6-4
Semifinal
Previous head-to-head: Tied 4-4

It was the U.S. Open final all over again, as Lleyton Hewitt comprehensively defeated Pete Sampras in the first of two men's semifinals this afternoon. The wind was back today, blowing the annoying sand around the stadium court. "We got this gold crap coming across the court into our eyes," was Hewitt's evocative post-match description. During the warm-up, it was impossible for the players to do a decent overhead drill because of the wildly windblown balls.

In the early going, Sampras was having a lot of trouble with both the wind and Hewitt's counterpunching. Hewitt dominated the first set totally, winning 27 of 42 points. The Aussie drew first blood at 1-1. Sampras put himself in a hole in this game at 15-30, on a windblown angled volley that landed wide. Then a routine (if anything was routine in this wind) forehand volley that just failed to clear the net, and it was 15-40. Sampras saved a break point with an ace, but watched helplessly on the second break point as Hewitt whipped a forehand first-serve return past him.

From there, the rout was on. Hewitt notched another break to take a 5-2 lead, on a picture perfect forehand lob, and coolly served out the set to seal a decisive 6-2 lead.

The second set featured more of the same. Sampras was getting increasingly and visibly frustrated, shaking his head, and wincing as took considerable time to wipe sand out of his eyes before serving. At one time uncharacteristically slammed his racquet onto the court after missing a forehand. As for Hewitt, except for one discussion with an umpire after he thought a point should be replayed because of distractions caused by a windblown sign board, the Aussie was concentrating on the task at hand. Ther e was no need to bring out the "C'mon!" shout today. Hewitt immediately broke Sampras to start the second set on another scathing return that zoomed past the American, who was attempting to serve-volley.

Hewitt held serve the rest of the way with relative ease. Like Thomas Enqvist yesterday, Sampras never held a break point all match long against Hewitt. The American was at times missing shots be almost comical margins, failing to make adequate allowance for the wind. The statistics were eloquent. Hewitt had 28 winners to just 14 unforced errors, while Sampras had a ratio of 18/30. Hewitt had 17 forehand winners, while Sampras, the owner of one of the most feared forehands in tennis, had just 3 . By the time Hewitt converted his first match point with a backhand passing shot, the outcome had long since been inevitable.

Hewitt felt that the conditions made it difficult to evaluate his performance today because of the conditions, which made him play a safer style than he usually does. "You've got to go out there and change your game a little bit, just play the percentages."

In his press conference, Sampras emitted a strange double discourse about this loss as well as his recent series of defeats against Hewitt. On the one hand, he took care to give Hewitt credit. On the other hand, he pointed to a series of factors that indicated that he felt the playing field today, and at the U.S. Open final as well, was not level. First, there was that wind. Hewitt, claimed Pete, is "probably the best wind player on the tour. It's safe to say I've never liked playing when it's this gusty ," said Sampras, who also cited a wind factor in that U.S. Open final last year, when it was also "pretty breezy". Second, the short recovery period from last night. "Definitely didn't help me out today." Third, his general discomfort in the desert conditions. "I like the conditions better in Miami than here."

Truth? Or self-delusion?

Tim Henman (7) def. Todd Martin (WC), 6-3, 6-3
Semifinal
Previous head-to-head: Tied 3-3

Like Lleyton Hewitt, Tim Henman had a fairly easy win over a struggling opponent. Henman held the key to the windy conditions, while his opponent was searching desperately for a clue of what to do.

Yesterday against Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Martin had won with his opportunism, converting 4 out of 4 break points. Today he suffered fatally from lack of opportunism, cashing in on just 1 of 8 break points (0 of 6 in the first set) while Henman was 4 of 4.

Henman seemed to take confidence from a nimble escape act in the first game of the match, when he aggressively fought out of a 15-40 hole, notably saving the 30-40 point with a strong forehand approach and stabbing volley. From that point on, the Englishman was in command of the proceedings. His entire game -- baseline, serving and volleying -- was solid. Martin considers himself a good wind player, but he never settled into a groove. "On days like today it doesn't seem like it's windy on the other si de of the court," commented Todd drily.

The Brit was rightly pleased with his outing, "the best I've played this week." Tomorrow, the pride of Oxford has a much tougher bone to chew: the in-form Hewitt, who is looking every inch the world number one this week. "I'm going to relish that challenge," said Tim. "If you want to win one of those big tournaments, one of the Masters Series, I think you want to beat the best."

Henman has been varying his game well this week, playing solidly from the baseline as well as serve-volleying with precision, and knows he will have to adopt the same tactics against Hewitt. "I'm certainly not going to try and serve and volley him off the court, because I think that's a mistake. I think I'm going to have to mix things up and give it my best shot."

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Quotable quotes

The women's tournament suffered this year because of decisions by elite players Venus and Serena Williams, Jennifer Capriati and Amélie Mauresmo to skip the event. Today Raymond Moore, the president of the company that manages this tournament, PM Sports, harshly criticized the WTA for allowing its top players to bypass marquee tournaments with impunity. "We put up the second highest prize money on the ladies' tour. To have the top players playing in Dubai for $580,000 total prize money, or $580, 000 prize money in Scottsdale down the road is, frankly, a slap in the face for us?. I really think the women's tour ? that's the WTA, the organization ? needs to look at this very seriously."