INDIAN WELLS (California), March 14: Top seed Lleyton Hewitt and second seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov both overcame a desert storm and gritty opponents on Wednesday to reach the third round of the $2.95 million Indian Wells Masters.

Britain’s Tim Henman, American Pete Sampras and Russia’s Marat Safin also progressed but fifth seed Tommy Haas was knocked out.

German Haas was blown away 6-4 6-2 by American Todd Martin on a wild day in Palm Desert that began with a sandstorm ripping through the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, and finished the same way with officials suspending play twice inbetween.

The day began under a dusty cloud with Australian Hewitt, the world number one, rallying to claim a 4-6 6-3 6-0 win over Romanian Andrei Pavel on a windswept centre court.

Play finished under the floodlights with sand still blowing through the Coachella Valley and Marcelo Rios refusing to return to the court after a 40-minute delay to complete his match with Swiss Michel Kratochvil, who upset defending champion Andre Agassi in the opening round.

Following an animated discussion with courtside officials, the belligerent Chilean finally went back to work venting his frustration on Kratochvil as he raced to a 6-4 6-2 win.

Playing at the same time as Hewitt on an exposed outside court, Kafelnikov also struggled with the conditions as he battled to a 6-3 7-6 (7-4) victory over Spain’s Fernando Vicente.

Shortly after the Russian completed his match, the San Jacinto mountains disappeared in a swirling sandstorm, forcing the suspension of Henman’s match against Nicolas Escude with the Briton leading 4-0.

When play resumed an hour later, Escude continued to plod as an unruffled Henman went back to work, ending his four-match losing streak against the 23rd-ranked Frenchman with a tidy 6-2 7-6 (7-4) victory.

Seeking his first title for almost two years, Sampras avoided the sandstorm but did not avoid hard work as he outplayed Spain’s Albert Costa 6-4 6-4 before returning to centre court for practice.

It was the second time in as many matches that Sampras finished off his opponent before putting in a training session with new coach Jose Higueras.

Martina Hingis and Monica Seles setting up a semifinal confrontation.

Fourth seed Seles claimed a 6-3 3-6 6-3 victory and her 20th win in 23 career meetings with Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.

Second seed Hingis, taking to centre court shortly after the worst of the storm had swirled through the Tennis Garden grounds, was unaffected by the gusting winds as she breezed past South Africa’s Amanda Coetzer 6-1 6-2 to reach the last four for the fifth time in as many tournaments.

Hingis and Seles will clash for the 19th time when they meet in Thursday’s semifinal, the 21-year-old Swiss holding a commanding edge having beaten the American 14 times, including twice this season at the Australian Open and the Pan Pacific championships.

The other semifinal features Hingis’s compatriot Emmanuelle Gagliardi and 18-year-old Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova.