INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- A desert storm halted play in the outer courts at Indian Wells on Wednesday afternoon but could not stop fourth seed Monica Seles from sweeping into the semifinals.

While a raging sandstorm stopping play on all outside courts, Seles and the ninth seeded Spain's Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario battled on in the somewhat sheltered main stadium on Wednesday. Seles held off a rally in the Sanchez-Vicario to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

It was the 23rd career meeting between the two three-time French Open champions as Seles collected her 20th victory.

The wind subsided some by the early afternoon, and Martina Hingis won to set up a showdown with Seles in the semifinals.

Hingis downed Amanda Coetzer 6-1, 6-2.

Daniela Hantuchova will play Emmanuelle Gagliardi in the other semifinal.

"All the years I've played here, I've never seen anything like today," said Seles, the 1992 Indian Wells champion. "It was just extremely windy, but also the sand in your eyes and on the tennis court, being slippery.

"So it was really difficult for both of us."

Still, Seles and Sanchez-Vicario had some long, spectacular rallies, with Seles finally gaining the edge in the match by peppering groundstrokes just inside the lines.