WTA CHAMPIONSHIPS Serena Williams to meet Sharapova

The winner will receive $1 million and a car to donate to her favorite charity.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Serena Williams pretended she couldn't remember playing Maria Sharapova in the Wimbledon final, amnesia being a convenient way of forgetting her one-sided loss.
"I don't know who it was," she said, half serious and half smiling. "I wasn't at Wimbledon this year."
The Russian trounced Williams 6-1, 6-4 for her first Grand Slam title at 17, a victory that propelled Sharapova to worldwide stardom and turned her blonde sex appeal into a lucrative off-court industry.
The facts
"In reality, there was one," Sharapova said. "She might not have been in reality."
Williams won't be able to pretend tonight, when she plays Sharapova in the final of the season-ending WTA Championships. The winner will receive $1 million, and a car to donate to her favorite charity.
Williams won the tournament in 2001 and was second in 2002, while Sharapova is playing for the first time. Sharapova is ranked sixth and Williams is eighth.
"She obviously is going to want her revenge," Sharapova said. "Hey, I'm in the finals of the championships and I want it, too."
Williams will try to salvage a season that, by her definition, wasn't the best.
She won two titles, but none in Grand Slam events. She skipped the Australian Open while rehabilitating her knee, then had quarterfinal losses to Jennifer Capriati at both the French and U.S. Opens and lost Wimbledon after beating Amelie Mauresmo in a three-set semifinal.
The semifinals
On Sunday in the semifinals, Williams outlasted Mauresmo 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4, and Sharapova beat Anastasia Myskina 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 for the first time after losing to her countrywoman three other times this year.
Mauresmo's loss guaranteed Lindsay Davenport will retain the top spot when the year-end WTA rankings are released Tuesday. The Frenchwoman had to win the tournament to topple Davenport, who failed to advance to the semifinals. Davenport also ended the year No. 1 in 1998 and 2001.
"It's not my main concern," said Mauresmo, who spent five weeks at the top after the U.S. Open before Davenport surpassed her.
Mauresmo failed to convert any of her 12 break points in the third set, when Williams hit winners on 10 of them.
"I felt like I forced her to play her best level and really make some passing shots and make some unbelievable saves," said Mauresmo, whose 11-match winning streak ended.
No budging
Mauresmo had six break points in the fourth game, but Williams held at 2-all. Williams outlasted Mauresmo in a 13-deuce, 32-point game to hold for a 5-3 lead.
Williams alternately blasted powerful groundstrokes, served in the 120-mph range and rushed the net, where she won 38 of 54 points.
"I'm doing in the match what do I in practice, so for me that's really important," she said. "That's what I'm happy most about. Now I just got to make sure I make them all."
Violation
Sharapova was assessed a code violation for being coached in the fifth game of the third set by her father.
"He always coaches her," Myskina said, adding that most players' coaches do the same thing during matches. "Maria's father did something really loud. That is why the chair umpire saw it."
Sharapova said, "I didn't hear what he said. It doesn't matter what the coach says. You still have to go out and you have to win."
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.