U.S. Women to Face Off in Aussie Open Final

MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan. 27, 2005 — -- Two American women struggled back from the brink of defeat to set up an all-USA final on Saturday at the 2005 Australian Open.

Serena Williams avenged her loss in last year's Wimbledon final by defeating Maria Sharapova of Russia, 2-6, 7-5, 8-6, and Lindsay Davenport shrugged off a disastrous first set to overcome a determined Natalie Dechy of France, 2-6, 7-6, 6-4.

For Davenport, the victory marks her first trip in five years to the finals of a Grand Slam championship. In 2000, she won the Australian Open, defeating Martina Hingis, and reached the finals of Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Despite her current world ranking of No. 1, she has failed to win one of the four major championships since then.

For Williams, the victory hoists her back into prominence as a fighter and competitor after two years of less-successful results. She won the Australian Open and Wimbledon championships in 2003, then struggled with injuries and relative inactivity. Both victories represented gritty comebacks for the American winners. Williams staved off three match points in the second and third sets. Davenport never faced a match point but came close to collapse in the second set.

Williams said she decided to resist defeat.

"In the second [set], I thought, "OK, God, I could have won this set already. Why am I still out here?" I thought, 'OK, well, maybe I should have played better. So just fight for every point."

A similar thought crossed her mind when Sharapova reached a second match point, which Williams had faced in other matches.

"Then the third match point came around. I was like, 'OK, haven't been in this situation before. It's a new experience for me, but I can keep fighting.' "

Davenport, who trailed 4-1 in the second-set tiebreaker, confessed that she feared defeat.

"Oh, yeah," she said, "making as many errors as I was making and not feeling like I could even keep that many balls in … I was still hopeful, but wasn't looking good."