Defending champion Venus Williams overpowered Lindsay Davenport 6-2 7-5 last night to set up a repeat of last year's final with Monica Seles at the $750,000 Acura Classic.
"I play very well against the top players," said Williams. "It's another level and a challenge I enjoy. When I play the power hitters, I play a little better."
Seles followed up her shock quarter-final win over world No. 2 Jennifer Capriati by defeating No. 1 Martina Hingis 6-3 6-4, giving her first-ever back-to-back wins over the tour's top two players.
"It's really excellent to come back after a match like yesterday and play as well as I did today. To keep my level high the entire match is really satisfactory," said Seles after beating Hingis for the first time in three years.
"It really feels great when you work hard and then you see the result. It's huge."
Behind a serve that reached 121mph and searing groundstrokes, Williams was never challenged in the first set.
But, after racing into a 3-0 lead in the second, Williams began to falter as Davenport found the range with her heavy groundstrokes.
Facing two match points serving at 4-5, the fourth-seeded Davenport stayed strong, thumping a forehand crosscourt winner and then watching Williams dump a forehand into the net to make it 5-5.
But Williams kept the pressure on as Davenport served at 5-6, belting returns and keeping her opponent on her heels.
On her third match point, Williams cracked a backhand winner down the line to earn her seventh victory in nine meetings with her fellow Southern Californian.
Williams finished the contest with six aces and 27 winners, against only 11 winners from Davenport.
"She's playing really well right now," Davenport said. "We have similar styles but she's a better athlete. When she's serving like that, there's no-one who can do anything about it. But it's not like I feel like I don't have a chance against her."
In breaking a seven-match losing streak against Hingis, seventh seed Seles played almost flawlessly, serving with precision and authority, cracking winners off both wings from inside the baseline and gamely running end-to-end during long rallies.