By Barry Wood
FILDERSTADT, Germany, Oct 8 - Lindsay Davenport
reached her ninth final of the season on Saturday when she beat
Daniela Hantuchova 6-4 6-3 at the Filderstadt Grand Prix.
She will meet either Amelie Mauresmo or Elena Dementieva in
Sunday's showpiece.
The defending champion, who has won four titles and finished
runner-up at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year,
had also beaten unseeded Slovak Hantuchova in their previous
four meetings.
The top-seeded American got off to a perfect start, taking a
1-0 lead on her second break point when Hantuchova put a
backhand volley wide.
Davenport also held two break points to lead 3-0, but
Hantuchova resisted and then settled down to offer Davenport a
real challenge. She struck some good returns, served well and
used her strong forehand to keep herself in contention.
Davenport had to fight off a break point at 4-3 with a
forehand winner, and then two more at 5-4 before sealing the
opening set with her ninth ace.
The match remained close in the second set, but Davenport's
serve gave her an advantage and she finished with 14 aces in
total.
Davenport made the breakthrough at 2-2, breaking when
Hantuchova put a backhand marginally wide. The Slovak also had
to hold off two break points at 4-2, but dropped her serve for a
third time as Davenport claimed victory when Hantuchova made a
backhand error.