Pierce vs Mauresmo in all-French final

The WTA Championships final is an all-French affair for the first time in history.

Mary Pierce of France shocked top-ranked Lindsay Davenport 7-6 7-6 to reach the final on Saturday and was joined by compatriot Amelie Mauresmo, who took down defending champion Maria Sharapova 7-6 6-3.

"Who would have thought that?" Mauresmo said of the French rally.

"It's amazing."

The one of last night is the second final appearance for both players, but neither has come through a winner. Pierce reached the final in 1997 before falling to Jana Novotna, while Mauresmo made it to the final two years ago before going down to Kim Clijsters.

Sharapova appeared to be on her way to her second straight final in the first set when she raced out to a 5-2 lead, but the powerful Mauresmo began to mix up her attack and confused the 18-year-old, who couldn't contend with Mauresmo's high bouncing topspin or deft low slices.

Towards the end of the set, Sharapova's right pectoral muscle injury began acting up again and she was never the same after that.

Sharapova fought off a set point at 5-6 when Mauresmo missed an easy forehand return, but in the tiebreaker, the Russia's forehand completely broke down as she committed five forehand unforced errors.

Sharapova double faulted to lose the tiebreaker 7-1.

In a high quality match in which both players brought out their best form, Pierce racked up 40 winners, with only 10 unforced errors, to eliminate Davenport.

During her fourth straight victory at the Championships, Pierce served amazingly well, making 70 per cent of her first serves while blasting 10 aces.

Davenport's serving was also impressive as she racked up 10 aces and 49 winners overall but was unable to keep up with Pierce's consistent attack from the baseline at key moments.

Pierce has had an extraordinary run through the second half of the season. Since the start of the French Open, she has a 31-4 record including winning titles in San Diego and Moscow.

Whoever wins the final will become the first Frenchwoman to win the title and end the year ranked number three.

The loser will end the year at number five. Sharapova will fall to number four .