Pilot Pen Women's Final

The last tournament of the US Open Series was once the poor cousin of the North American hardcourt season, since most top-ranked players opted to rest during the week leading up to the US Open.

This year, the men's field could be considered weak, with world #6 Nikolay Davydenko seeded #1 (he was upset by Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG) in the second round). The women's field, however, had world #2 Lindsay Davenport and #3 Amelie Mauresmo as the top two seeds--and they've lived up to their seedings.

Davenport, coming back from injury, has hit the trail strong. After losing the #1 ranking to Maria Sharapova at the beginning of this week, Lindsay will again be back on top next week after beating Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) to reach the Pilot Pen final. There she meets Amelie Mauresmo, who overcame Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) in three sets.

The Davenport vs. Mauresmo head-to-head shows a favorable forecast for Lindsay, since she has won their last eight encounters. Their most recent meeting was at this year's Wimbledon semifinal, where they played the match over the course of two days before Davenport won in three sets.

posted by Noelle De Guzman @ 9:36 AM