Davenport serves up clash with Williams

For two games yesterday Amelie Mauresmo clung to the idea she would be playing in her first Wimbledon final today. In a match delayed by rain and then interrupted late on Thursday evening, Mauresmo's hopes hung on holding serve and then breaking perhaps the best serving player at the championships and former champion, Lindsay Davenport.

When they stepped onto Court One, where they had run for cover just hours before, the French third seed knew it was one throw of the dice. In tennis time it was a moment where she could reshape her career graph or notch up what would be the end of her third Wimbledon semi-final. Mauresmo, for all of her beguiling stroke play and poise, has never quite broken into the heavy league of players. Her first Grand Slam win remains an aspiration.

The two players had abandoned the match at 6-7, 7-6, 5-3 (0-15), Davenport a break up and just one service game away from victory. While Mauresmo held up to the first half of the strategy, to hold service and force Davenport to serve for the match, it was the 29-year-old Californian, whose strategy prevailed. Hitting two unreturnable deliveries from her four serves was easily enough to win the game to love and earn a meeting with Venus Williams in an all-American final.

"It was such a tough 24 hours. I mean I was here at 10am yesterday warming up. Got on the court at around 5.30pm. Got out of here at 9.30pm. To come back in that situation, it was brutal," said Davenport. "Anyone would rather be 5-3 up than 5-3 down so I knew I had that going for me. Anyone would die to be in a position to serve for a match on grass in the semis of Wimbledon, so I had all that on my side."

She will need more of it today. Davenport will remember that the last time she met Williams in a Wimbledon final, she was playing the younger player as the reigning champion, having beaten Steffi Graf in the 1999 final. She may also recall Williams won what was the first of her successive championships at a point when Davenport was arguably at the peak of her game.

After 26 career matches between the two, Williams and Davenport know each other's game almost as well as their own. The last four matches Davenport has won, but before that Williams won nine of their 10 meetings. Perhaps more importantly, Williams has come out on top in all three of their previous grass battles.

Both have also turned around their careers. Just 12 months ago Davenport was talking about retirement and beginning a family while Williams was struggling with her focus, injury and bad form to the extent she was considered a 14th seed for the championship.

"We've both gone through so many transitions from around 97, when we probably played first, up until now," said Davenport.

"In the beginning I was always winning, then she was always winning. The last few times it's been me. We've both evolved quite a bit and still play these close, crazy matches, pretty much always in semi-finals or finals."

Williams couldn't recall the last match against Davenport or the last time she beat her on grass, but she could remember the last time she jumped as high as she did after beating Maria Sharapova. "At the U2 concert," she said.

Williams may have worked out the formula between her power, precision and reach on court but her personality remains dreamy and distant to Davenport's intelligent, articulate manner.

Two different characters, one 25, the other 30, both are on the cusp of turning their careers around with one more win.