A French Woman Will Win

There is almost a last-day-of-school feel at the WTA Tour Championships.

But instead of signing yearbooks, the players are signing off with final news conferences and a bit of extra lunch money. Even those failing to win a match went home with $100,000.

Today, the stakes are considerably higher for Mary Pierce and Amelie Mauresmo, who will meet in the final at Staples Center, the winner receiving $1 million and the honor of becoming the first French woman to win this season-ending tournament.

The champion will move to No. 3 in the rankings, behind Lindsay Davenport and Kim Clijsters of Belgium, and one spot ahead of Maria Sharapova of Russia, who will drop to fourth.

Pierce, 4-0 here, defeated Davenport in Saturday’s opening semifinal, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6), in 1 hour 47 minutes with an impressive winner/unforced error ratio. Pierce hit 40 winners and committed only 10 unforced errors, four in the second set. She had 10 aces and double-faulted once.

Mauresmo survived the always-present test with her own nerves, defeating 18-year-old defending champion Sharapova, 7-6 (1), 6-3, in 1 hour 34 minutes. This is the second time in three years Mauresmo, 26, has reached the final; in 2003, she won only two games against Clijsters in the championship match.

She had help from Sharapova in the tiebreaker. Sharapova made five consecutive forehand errors and double-faulted to lose the set. Mauresmo got tight late in the second set, but Sharapova couldn’t sustain any consistent pressure. Sharapova’s long-standing strained pectoral muscle injury started to become a factor late in the first set. She had been two points from winning the first set, serving at 5-3.

“[It is] still not 100%,” Sharapova said. “Especially in the second set, I couldn’t serve very big. And I couldn’t hit a really big forehand. So that obviously is not very good when you are playing a top player in the semis.”

The quality of play was higher in the Davenport-Pierce match. The second-set tiebreaker was decided more often than not by winners rather than errors, though Davenport floated a relatively easy forehand long on match point.

“I can’t say I’m not disappointed to not have to play a match out there again,” Davenport said. “I have struggled every year I played here.”

Still, she leaves with a decent consolation prize, having secured the year-end No. 1 ranking for the fourth time in her career. Davenport received the news, via text message, from her coach early Friday morning.

“It seemed last year was a bit more dramatic,” Davenport, 29, said. “I was waiting for Mauresmo and Serena [Williams] to finish forever. But obviously, it is a nice feeling. I was driving alone in my car on Olympic Boulevard at midnight or whatever. It is a great feeling, four times.”

Pierce, 30, is aiming for No. 1 in 2006, poised to make a run, having lost only twice on the WTA Tour since losing in the French Open final in June.

“I’m very proud of myself for the year I’ve had, especially since Roland Garros, proud to be in the final tomorrow,” she said. “Just one more match this year, and I’m going to give everything that I have, enjoy it, and see what happens in the end.”

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WTA results

From the WTA Championships at Staples Center:

SATURDAY’S SINGLES RESULTS

* Mary Pierce, France, d. Lindsay Davenport, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6).

* Amelie Mauresmo, France, d. Maria Sharapova, Russia, 7-6 (1), 6-3.

TODAY’S SINGLES FINALS

Starting at 3 p.m.

* Pierce vs. Mauresmo.

TODAY’S DOUBLES FINALS

To follow singles finals

* Cara Black, Zimbabwe/Rennae Stubbs, Australia vs. Samantha Stosur, Australia/Lisa Raymond.