DANIELA HANTUCHOVA won her second Pacific Life Open championship at Indian Wells, California, the United States, on Saturday.

Hantuchova, the 2002 champion here, defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-4 in the final this time to end her long winless streak.

On the men’s side, Rafael Nadal beat Andy Roddick 6-4, 6-3 in one semifinal, and Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray 6-2, 6-3 in the other.

No. 18 Hantuchova, who upset Martina Hingis in the championship match for her only previous title, this time used steady, accurate groundstrokes and timely net play for the victory over No. 4 Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion.

Hantuchova, who also beat Hingis this year on her way to the final, obviously was elated to finally earn her second tour win.

At almost the same instant Kuznetsova’s forehand sailed over the back line long on the final point, Hantuchova already was jumping and waving her arms in joy.

“I think all the best things in life are worth waiting for, moments like this,” Hantuchova said. “I guess all the hard work and everything I had to go through makes the victory that much sweeter.”

The 23-year-old Slovak dictated the rhythm of the match against Kuznetsova, a 21-year-old Russian who has won eight tour titles. Keeping the ball deep with hard groundstrokes, Hantuchova also made the most of her trips to the net, winning 11 of her 12.

“I had exactly the same feeling I had against Martina in 2002,” Hantuchova said. “I just knew that I was going to enjoy myself out there. I was just so confident from the first point, and I didn’t even think about the score.”

Hantuchova also defeated China’s Li Na 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 in the semifinals of the ATP/WTA event Friday.

Li was trying to become the first Chinese to reach the finals of a Tier 1 tournament. She also made the semis of the WTA Tier 1 Berlin tournament last year.

Li was pleased with her overall performance here and said she planned to reward herself by going shopping at a nearby mall Saturday.

“It is my second time to play Indian Wells and I got to the semifinals,” Li said. “This will give me more confidence for my next tournament in Miami.

“I want to go shopping tomorrow. A lot of Chinese girls went yesterday and I want to buy a nice gift for myself because I played in the semifinal here.”

In 2004, Li became the first Chinese to win a WTA Tour title by capturing the Guangzhou tournament in southern China.

Li has made a habit of fighting back from the brink of defeat in her matches the past few weeks but the magic wasn’t there Friday.

“My legs just felt so heavy,” Li said. “I couldn’t jump or hit a big serve.”(SD-Agencies)