Mauresmo to meet Clijsters in Rome final

Amelie Mauresmo upset defending champion Serena Williams 1-6 7-5 6-3 to advance to the final of the Rome Masters, inflicting …

Amelie Mauresmo upset defending champion Serena Williams 1-6 7-5 6-3 to advance to the final of the Rome Masters, inflicting only the second defeat of the year on the world number one.

Mauresmo will now meet Kim Clijsters in the final after the number two seed beat Ai Sugiyama of Japan.

It was the Frenchwoman's first victory over Williams in six encounters and came despite dropping the first set in just 21 minutes.

"Obviously at that point I didn't feel so good," the fourth seed, runner-up here in 2000 and 2001, told reporters after facing the American for the first time on slow European clay.

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"She was playing good tennis, she wasn't missing a thing and putting balls very deep. I just had to stay in the match and hope her level came down."

Williams's only other defeat this year came against Belgium's Justine Henin-Hardenne in the final of the Charleston claycourt tournament last month.

The top seed appeared set for a quick victory after a series of groundstroke winners helped her race into a 5-0 lead before taking the opening set.

The balance began to shift in a nervy second set. Mauresmo started positively, holding her own serve to love and breaking to go 2-0 up.

But she then choked, hitting two double faults at 30-30 in the following game to surrender the advantage.

In the ninth game the top seed broke to grab a 5-4 lead and a chance to serve for the match, but she also stuttered, losing her next two service games and allowing Mauresmo to level at one set all.

In the decider Mauresmo twice fought back from a break down before profiting from three wide forehands in the eighth game to snatch a precious 5-3 lead before serving out the match.

"In that third set I realized I could stay with her. I'd already broken her a few times and I knew I could do it again," said Mauresmo.

In Sunday's final she faces the winner of the second semi-final between second-seeded Kim Clijsters and Japan's Ai Sugiyama.

Williams attributed her defeat to her own mistakes, saying: "I don't think there was one single thing in particular she did (to put me under pressure).

"I made far too many errors, especially on serve."

Asked whether the defeat would affect her plans in the run-up to the French Open in Paris at the end of the month, Williams replied: "It's always disappointing to lose, but it's better to lose here than in Paris. It's not the end of the world."