Former double champion Venus Williams dethroned Centre Court queen and defending champion Maria Sharapova 7-6 (7/2), 6-1 on Thursday to reach her fifth Wimbledon final. The 25-year-old American, the winner in 2000 and 2001, will take on either top seeded compatriot Lindsay Davenport or Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo for the title on Saturday where she will be chasing a fifth Grand Slam title.
Davenport was leading Mauresmo 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/4), 5-3 when rain brought an interruption to their Court One clash.
"I have raised my game to get this far because I love this tournament," said Williams who revealed that sister Serena, who was beaten in the final by Sharapova in 2004, had passed on some pre-match tips to her. "Serena sent me an e-mail telling me what to do, that I had to stay in the game and play my best. I took it to heart.
"It's my fifth final. I have a good record here and everything is falling into place." The semi-final between the 14th seeded Williams and the Russian second seed had been delayed by over four hours because of rain.
But when it did finally get underway it was worth the wait.
Both women unleashed an uncompromising display of brutal power hitting, the violence of which was matched by a rapid escalation of screams and squeals from both sides.
Williams grabbed the first break in the opening set to lead 4-2 and then held for 5-2.
But Sharapova battled back and matched the American shot for shot and scream for scream as the noise levels from both women rocketed with the intensity of the exchanges.
Williams bashed a vicious down-the-line forehand to carve out two set points in the ninth game.
The Russian though stayed in the set by saving both, the last of which was secured with a blistering cross-court forehand before she broke to go 4-5 when Williams hit long.
The two women the held on to reach the tiebreaker.
Two early errors from Sharapova handed the initiative to Williams who hit her way to four set points and the American clinched the opener after 62 minutes when the champion, forced from side to side, could only direct a backhand long.
The exertions of the first set seemed to take their toll on Sharapova who was broken immediately to love at the start of the second set and then wasted two break points to slip 2-0 down.
From that point, the 18-year-old's spirit was sapped.
She was broken again to go 1-4 down and wasted two break points in the sixth game which lasted nine minutes.
As the skies darkened, Sharapova saved one match point in the seventh game but hit a tired, loose forehand wide of the mark to hand Williams the tie after 1hr 42min of intriguing action.
DAVENPORT IN FINAL: Top seed Lindsay Davenport needed just two games on Friday to see off the challenge of France's Amelie Mauresmo and reach her first final in five years.
The American won the rain-hit tie 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 and goes on to play compatriot Venus Williams in Saturday's final.
The Davenport-Mauresmo semi-final had been suspended due to rain late Thursday at 5-3 to Davenport in the third set and with Mauresmo serving.
The third seed duly held serve to love to get to 5-4, but it was all to no avail as Davenport comfortably served out to reach the final, Mauresmo netting an easy volley at the net on match point.
"There was a lot of tension and nerves over the last 24 hours, but I slept well," the American said. "
"I had all the momentum and I thought the delay could have worked against me but I as able to pull out a good service game when I needed it."
For 29-year-old Davenport the win means a first Grand Slam final since losing the 2000 US Open title to Venus Williams. The world No 1 has three Grand Slam titles to her name - one each at Wimbledon, the US Open and Australia.
But for 25-year-old Mauresmo, the defeat is another bitter pill to swallow in her quest for a first Grand Slam title. Once again the question marks will be raised against her resolve.
She had led by one set and 3-1 in the gathering gloom on Thursday only to play two sloppy service games that allowed Davenport back into the match.
And instead of persevering with the serve and volley game that had the slow-moving American backing off, Mauresmo retreated to the baseline where Davenport's heavier groundstrokes worked in her favour.
The 29-year-old Davenport won her only Wimbledon singles title in 1999 defeating Steffi Graf. The following year she lost the crown to Venus Williams who laid the first stone in a four-year domination of the Centre Court by herself and sister Serena.
Davenport and Williams have played each other 26 times since 1997 with Davenport 14-12 ahead including the last four encounters.
COLLATED RESULTS ON THURSDAY (x denotes seeded player):
WOMEN'S SINGLES (Semi-finals): Venus Williams (USA x14) bt Maria Sharapova (RUS x2) 7-6 (7/2), 6-1.
TO FINISH: Lindsay Davenport (USA x1) leads Amelie Mauresmo (FRA x3) 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/4), 5-3.
MEN'S DOUBLES (Quarter-final): Jonas Bjorkman/Max Mirnyi (SWE/BLR x1) bt Rainer Schuettler/Alexander Waske (GER/GER) 7-5, 6-3, 6-2.
MIXED DOUBLES (Quarter-finals): Paul Hanley/Tatiana Perebiynis (AUS/UKR) bt Mariano Hood/Gisela Dulko (ARG/ARG) 6-3, 6-4.
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