Davenport finishes off Mauresmo

Top seed Lindsay Davenport [Images] completed her tortuous passage through to the Wimbledon final when she finished off French third seed Amelie Mauresmo 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 on Friday.

The 29-year-old, who will face U.S. compatriot Venus Williams [Images] in Saturday's final, led 6-7, 7-6, 5-3 overnight after rain halted the Court One semi-final on Thursday evening.

She needed only three minutes 44 seconds on Friday to complete her win with a love service game.

The 1999 champion will now attempt to win a second Wimbledon crown against the opponent who beat her in straight sets in the 2000 Wimbledon final.

"It's pretty amazing," said Davenport, who has not won a grand slam title since her 2000 Australian Open triumph.

"There was just a lot of stress and nerves over the last 24 hours. It was really tough conditions.

"We were only out there a minute so you never know what can happen but fortunately I was able to produce a good service game."

Mauresmo's defeat meant she has lost in the semi-finals on her last three visits to Wimbledon. She fell in the last four in 2002 and 2004 having missed 2003 through injury.

The loss also left the 25-year-old still waiting for her first grand slam title. The former world number one has only reached one grand slam final -- the 1999 Australian Open.

Her nerve has often let her down on the big occasion and she will regret squandering another winning position against Davenport having led by a set and 3-1 at one point on Thursday.

She made a three-course meal of winning the first set, throwing away a 5-2 lead and then a 4-1 advantage in the tiebreak before finally taking it 7-5.

The second set was similarly serpentine but this time Davenport's heavy serve and forehand dominated the tiebreak, taking it 7-4.

A break for 4-3 put the American in sight of victory before the rain saved Mauresmo, who had proved unable to impose her serve-volley game.

On Friday she resumed at 3-5, 15-0 and held to love but, amid an air of anti-climax, Davenport did exactly the same, sealing victory on her first match point when Mauresmo netted a forehand volley.

On Saturday, Davenport will be playing in her second grand slam final of 2005. She lost to Venus's younger sister Serena in the Australian Open final at the start of the year.

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