The first semifinal of the day was the third meeting between Davenport and Kournikova this year. Davenport won both meetings (Sydney and the Australian Open) in straight sets and holds an overall advantage of 4-2 over the Russian. Davenport has struggled thus far in the tournament with two competitive matches against Capriati and Seles. The American has clocked nearly three hours on the court in singles. In contrast, Kournikova had a relatively easy time of it losing only 11 games in three matches. Kournikova had a quick turnaround, playing the last quarterfinal last evening, and up first in singles today versus Davenport.

Kournikova started off slow. A double fault at 40-30 sent Kournikova's opening service game to deuce and Davenport broke with two forehand winners to close out the game. The Davenport serve has been questionable this week. Kournikova battled Davenport to deuce but a 101 mph ace and a forehand hit long by Kournikova gave Davenport the early lead at 2-0. The players held serve over the next several games though several of them reached deuce. The double faults that plagued Davenport's game during her quarterfinal match with Seles disappeared today. Additionally, Davenport earned more easy points off her serve today, many of which Kournikova was barely able to get her racquet on. In a disastrous seventh game, Kournikova's backhand yielded several unforced errors and Davenport hit a forehand winner into the corner for a second break at 5-2. Davenport closed out the set with a 100 mph service winner and a Kournikova forehand sailing wide. The first set took 28 minutes at 6-2.

Kournikova's opening service game in the second set was no better than the first. Kournikova hit two forehands long to give Davenport an early 1-0 advantage. The players held their next two service games. Davenport quickly fell down on her serve in the fourth game 0-30. Later in the game, Kournikova came to net forcing Davenport to hit wide to set up a break point. Kournikova broke with a beautiful forehand down the line winner to even the match at 2-2. Not able to carry the momentum of the break, three consecutive Kournikova unforced errors gave Davenport a 0-40 lead in the next game. Davenport immediately earned back a break advantage with a forehand passing shot for 3-2. Kournikov's next service game was not any better. A handful of Kournikova errors set up a second break of service. The Russian attempted a drop shot that went wide to give Davenport a chance to serve for the match at 5-2. Davenport would throw in her first double fault, giving Kournikova a 0-30 lead in the eighth game of the match. The American battled back to deuce and Kournikova earned another break point. As she has done in her last two matches, Davenport stepped it up at the crucial points. A service winner sent the game back to deuce and a final Kournikova error gave Davenport the match, 6-2, 6-2 in 55 minutes.

In the post match interviews, Kournikova stated that she was not disappointed with the loss. She said she was a little tired from playing last night but credited Davenport's consistency that has kept her at the top of the rankings. Before questioning started, the WTA representative cautioned reporters to keep the question "tennis related." However, the final question of the session ended with the topic everyone is talking about, Kournikova's engagement. Asked if she would be getting married this year, the Russian simply rolled her eyes and said "Maybe, maybe not." In the middle of a follow-up question, the interview was ended as Kournikova disappeared behind a tent curtain.

Davenport stated that she was happy with the way her game was progressing this week. She stated that she feels as if she has improved with each match. The American said she was definitely helped by a lot of Kournikova's unforced errors and believed she probably did not play as well today as she has done earlier in the week. Citing her poor performance last spring, Davenport was confident that she probably would regain the #1 ranking sometime over the next several weeks.

The days of seeing Mary Pierce plop eye drops into her eyes during changeovers are over. Last month, Pierce went under the laser for Lasik eye surgery. The surgery corrects vision problems and according to Pierce has improved her game. Calling the procedure a miracle, Pierce says that she is seeing the ball much quicker these days. I have heard that one's vision at night is a little shaky and Pierce confirmed this as well. Davenport today even stated that looking at Pierce's scores this week the surgery must have really worked.

Monica Seles has a brand new racquet, one customized for her by the head folks at Yonex. Seles's racquet has a 110-square inch face as opposed to the 130-square inch one that is currently on the market. With more graphite, the racquet's aim is to improve Seles's control without losing any power.