WTA: IT'S AN ALL-FRENCH FINAL VETERANS PIERCE, MAURESMO TO PLAY FOR TOUR TITLE TODAY.Byline: Matthew Kredell Staff Writer A sport often dominated by teenagers, tennis is firmly in the hands of the veterans this year. Experience continued its year-long reign Saturday at the season-ending WTA WTA Washington Trails Association WTA Women's Tennis Association WTA World Transhumanist Association WTA Willingness to Accept WTA Winner-Take-All WTA Winner Takes All WTA World Toilet Association (Singapore) Championships with Mary Pierce Mary Pierce (born on January 15, 1975, in Montreal, Canada) is a French-American women's professional tennis player on the WTA tour and the winner of a total of four Grand Slam titles: two in singles; and two in doubles. Pierce plays for France. and Amelie Mauresmo advancing to today's final at Staples Center This article has multiple issues: * Its neutrality is disputed. * It may contain original research or unverifiable claims. * It does not cite any references or sources. . Pierce, 30, playing the best tennis of her comeback season, upset No. 1-ranked Lindsay Davenport Lindsay Ann Davenport (born June 8 1976 in Palos Verdes, California) is a former World No. 1 American professional female tennis champion. She has won three Grand Slam singles tournaments: the 1998 U.S. Open, 1999 Wimbledon, and the 2000 Australian Open. 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6). In a year for the oldies Oldies is a generic term commonly used to describe a radio format that usually concentrates on Top 40 music from the '50s, '60s and '70s. Oldies are typically from R&B, pop and rock music genres. , there was no room for 18-year-old Maria Sharapova Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (Russian: Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова listen . Mauresmo, 26, came back from a break down in each set to oust the tournament's defending champion 7-6 (1), 6-3. Pierce is the first woman older than 30 to make the WTA Championships final since Martina Navratilova in 1992. It's Pierce's first time qualifying for the Championships since 2000. ``I have just been able to have more faith in myself and my ability,'' Pierce said. ``And, even if you just have a little bit, it can take you far.'' Pierce and Mauresmo, who set up an all-French final for the first time in the 34-year history of the event, will face off for the second time in three days. Pierce beat Mauresmo in three sets Friday to conclude round-robin play. No French woman ever has won the Tour Championships singles title. That will change today. ``We know each other pretty well,'' Mauresmo said. ``We played against each other (Friday) night and have practiced together many times. So we'll see.'' Pierce ran her record to 4-0 on the week, the only undefeated player in the tournament, in impressively beating Davenport. Davenport fought just to stay in the match as Pierce once again dominated with her serve. ``It was tough to get any kind of momentum going because, every time I felt like that was a good hold, let's get it going here, she would hold at love,'' Davenport said. Pierce won on her second match point when Davenport hit a backhand long. Pierce had 40 winners and just 10 unforced errors. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. if I have ever done that before,'' Pierce said. ``That is quite a lot of wins compared to the ratio of unforced errors.'' Pierce now hopes to finish off the tournament with a victory. The past two times she made a big final, at the U.S. Open and French Open, she lost. Sharapova led 5-2 and was two points away from winning the first set on her serve when she began having a slew of unforced errors. She double-faulted, then hit three shots into the net to give Mauresmo the break. Sharapova then hit seven errors in the tiebreaker tie·break·er n. An additional contest or period of play designed to establish a winner among tied contestants. Also called tiebreak. tie , which concluded on her double fault. Sharapova ended the match with 39 unforced errors to 17 for Mauresmo. Sharapova said the pectoral muscle pectoral muscle n. Either of two muscles in the chest, the pectoralis major or the pectoralis minor. injury that bothered her over the summer flared up during the match, limiting the effectiveness of her serve. She won just 65 percent of her first serves with two aces. Matthew Kredell, (818)713-3607 matthew.kredell(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Mary Pierce returns a shot in a 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6) semifinal victory against No. 1-ranked Lindsay Davenport at Staples Center. Chris Carlson/Associated Press Box: WTA CHAMPIONSHIP |
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