Top-seeded Mary Pierce added to her impressive run through the Family Circle Cup, beating No. 3 Monica Seles 6-1, 6-1 Saturday.
Pierce, who has not dropped a set and lost only 11 games all week, will face former champion Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in Sunday's title match. Sanchez-Vicario, the fourth seed, won her seventh straight match over her Spanish countrywoman, Conchita Martinez, 7-5, 7-5.
"You try to learn something from every loss or every win," Seles commented after the match. "Obviously it's harder to take the losses. I've had a couple like this, but you try to figure out why and just try to work on that so you don't repeat it too many more times."
Top seed Pierce, who has not dropped a set en route to her first final of the season, will battle former champion Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain in Sunday's final at the $1.08 million clay court event.
Fourth seed Sanchez beat Conchita Martinez 7-5, 7-5 in an all-Spanish matchup in the other semi-final.
Seles, the third seed, had won eight matches in a row and a title last week in Amelia Island, Florida, since being booed off the court in Miami.
But Seles committed 14 unforced errors and five double faults and lost her serve five times in the 44-minute loss to Pierce, who continued an impressive tuneup on her way to next month's French Open. She had 25 winners to 10 for Seles and Pierce made only two unforced errors.
"I just really felt flat out there and Mary did not give me any breaks to really kind of get myself together," Seles said. "I wasn't really running for the ball, and against Mary I have to, and she never really gave me a chance to get into that state."
Pierce, 25, won for only the third time in eight meetings with Seles and will seek her 14th career WTA Tour title on Sunday, her first since last year at Linz, Austria, her only title of 1999.
Sanchez is playing in her record 14th consecutive Cup. She also reached the final in 1993. Sanchez is playing in only her fifth event of 2000 after undergoing throat surgery in February. The 28-year-old won her only title last season on clay in Cairo, Egypt and will vie for the 28th career singles title - (Several Sources).
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
