INDIAN WELLS, California (Ticker) -- Daniela Hantuchova recorded the biggest victory of her young career Monday, upsetting third-seeded Justine Henin of Belgium in the fourth round of the $5.05 million Pacific Life Open.
Hantuchova, 18, ousted the 2001 Wimbledon finalist, 6-3, 6-3, to become the second Slovak in tournament history to reach the quarterfinals here. The 18th seed's triumph over seventh-ranked Henin, marked her highest victory over a ranked player.
She played the Belgian two months ago at Gold Coast and lost in three sets.
"I think I'm much stronger," Hantuchova said. "I have more experience and I knew exactly what to do every time. (This win) proved a lot to me because I knew I had so many chances against these players, and I haven't used them, but today I did. Today everything came together. So I'm very happy."
Henin lost before the quarterfinals for the first time in six tournaments this season. She was runner-up twice this season at Gold Coast and Antwerp and reached the quarterfinals at Sydney, the Australian Open and Paris Indoors.
"(Hantuchova) played so well," Henin said. "She was strong. She was serving very well also and she's an aggressive player. She has confidence now and that's the difference."
In Tuesday's quarterfinals, Hantuchova will take on No. 12 Lisa Raymond of the United States, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over No. 26 Anne Kremer of Luxembourg.
Second seed and 1998 champion Martina Hingis of Switzerland dispatched Cara Black of Zimbabwe, 6-0, 6-3. Hingis is gunning for her third WTA title of the year. The former world No. 1 triumphed in January at Sydney and last month at Tokyo, where she captured her 40th career trophy.
Hingis' quarterfinal foe on Wednesday will be 10th seed Amanda Coetzer. The South African held off No. 25 Alexandra Stevenson of the United States, 6-1, 5-7, 7-5.
Fourth seed Monica Seles of the United States, the 1992 winner, routed No. 22 Ai Sugiyama of Japan, 6-0, 6-1, Monday night. It was Seles' eighth win over Sugiyama in as many encounters. She will play ninth seed Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain in the quarterfinals.
Sanchez-Vicario ousted seventh seed Silvia Farina Elia of Italy with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) victory.
Also, Israel's Anna Smashnova and Switzerland's Emmanuelle Gagliardi advanced to their first Tier I event quarterfinal on Monday. Smashnova, a winner of two tournaments this year, upended sixth seed Meghann Shaughnessy of the United States, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, and Gagliardi topped No. 28 Anastasia Myskina of Russia, 1-6, 7-6, (7-4), 7-6 (7-5).
The men's draw began on Monday with top seed Lleyton Hewitt defeating Spain's Carlos Moya, 6-4, 6-4. The fiesty Australian, who won his first tournament of the year at San Jose two weeks ago, looks to be fully recovered after taking several weeks off due to the chicken pox. He fought back after falling behind a break in each set.
"I fought hard to get that break back in the second. Then I felt pretty much in control from there," said Hewitt, who is enjoying life as the No. 1 player. "I've got a lot of confidence going into (matches), no matter who I'm playing or what surface. It's a good thing to have when you go out there and play."
Russians Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin moved into the second round with straight-sets wins. Second-seeded Kafelnikov, a semifinalist here last year, beat Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman for the eighth time in as many meetings, 7-5, 6-3, while No. 7 Safin, the Australian Open runner-up, bested Alberto Martin of Spain, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).
Thomas Enqvist of Sweden supplied the only upset when he eliminated countryman and doubles partner Thomas Johansson. Enqvist defeated the Australian Open champion and eighth seed, 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-4, in just over two hours to earn a second-round meeting with Hungarian qualifier Attila Savolt, who got past South African Wayne Ferreira, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-1).
Seventh seed Tim Henman of Britain held off rising Spaniard Tommy Robredo, 6-2, 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, and No. 10 Pete Sampras beat fellow American Mardy Fish, a qualifier, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2. Sampras won this event in 1994-1995 and reached the final last year.
After the win, the 30-year-old American went out to hit with new coach Jose Higueras.
"I kind of wanted to hit a few balls," Sampras said. "I didn't really feel like I hit the ball that well tonight. I'm trying to get better. I'm trying to work on a few things here and there."
Sampras is trying anything to capture his first title since winning his record-setting 13th Grand Slam at Wimbldon in 2000.
"I'm trying something a little different (with his strings) ... using some gut still and a little nylon," he said. "I'm just being a little bit more open. I've been using the same racquet, same tension, everything, for 10 years. So trying something a little bit different is a big deal for me. I'm just trying to give myself a little bit more control."
No. 16 Alex Corretja of Spain, the 2000 winner here, eased by Andrea Gaudenzi of Italy, 6-2, 6-4.
Other winners Monday included Nicolas Escude of France, Francisco Squillari of Argentina and Romania's Andrei Pavel.
The women's champion earns $332,000 and the men's winner takes home $392,000.
