One of the tournament's favorite players, Nathalie Dechy, will take on a Russian, Nadia Petrova, who has been playing awesomely, ousting seeds left and right, and they will play for the title on Sunday after their semifinal wins on Saturday.
Dechy has been a person to fear in the Tier III Tournament. Unseeded, she has sent three seeds - No. 4 seed Katarina Srebotnik, No. 6 seed Aleksandra Wozniak, and No. 5 seed Amelie Mauresmo - flying home, and this the Frenchwoman's first final since 2004, in New Haven.
"Even yesterday was big for me, because it had been such a long time since I won three matches in a row; so to get into the final is another great thing," Dechy said. "New Haven was a good experience. After that final I played really well for the next couple of months, so hopefully I can get that kind of confidence here."
Dechy won a thrilling battle against her countrywoman Mauresmo, 64 36 62.
"We know each other's games so well because we've been playing each other since we were very young," Dechy said on her friendly rivalry with Mauresmo. "Everything was going my way in the third set. She's maybe not at the same level as when she was No.1, but she's always a tough competitor."
"It's disappointing to have an up-and-down match like this after the ones I played this week," said Mauresmo, who was playing her first semifinal of the year. "But the reason I came here was to get matches, so that's definitely a benefit for the US Open coming up. She was just too good in the third set; I did my best today."
Petrova won to compatriot Maria Kirilenko, also in a tight three-setter, 16 62 61.
"In the beginning I felt very flat; I had no energy and really struggled in the rallies," Petrova said. "But then everything changed from the beginning of the second set. I was able to step it up a little bit and I think it threw her rhythm off."
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