Davenport beats Capriati to set up final v Dokic

American Lindsay Davenport put the first blemish on Jennifer Capriati's reign as world number one on Saturday when she eased into the final of the Swisscom Challenge with a 6-1 5-7 6-2 victory.

She will meet fourth-seeded Yugoslav Jelena Dokic who beat Nathalie Tauziat of France 6-2 6-2 in the other semi.

Davenport, champion here in 1998 and 1997, improved her Zurich record to a sparkling 14-1, sending the third seed through to her fourth final in her last five events.

Switzerland has always proved a happy hunting ground for Davenport, who will be appearing in her fourth Zurich final and can also count two titles from nearby Lucerne on her resume.

In fact, Davenport's only loss in Switzerland came last year when falling to Martina Hingis in the Swisscom final.

"I've always felt comfortable here," said Davenport, a former world number one and the winner of five tournaments this season. "I should have won last year, I served for the match.

"Whenever you have success somewhere it gives you confidence when you're back out there Some places seem to bring out the best in players and it does for me here."

Davenport immediately stamped her authority on the contest breaking a lethargic Capriati's opening serve and surging in front 4-0.

When Capriati finally held serve it did little to ease her frustration, the Australian and French Open champion arguing several line calls with the chair umpire.

Still Focused
The outbursts did nothing to distract Davenport who remained focused breaking Capriati a third time to wrap up the opening set in just 17 minutes.

"The first set I don't even want to talk about, I had no rhythm at all," said Capriati, who overtook an injured Hingis at the top of the rankings on Monday. "In the second I played better.

"I had my chances in the third set but didn't take advantage of them. There were some bad calls but I was more frustrated that I wasn't capitalising on my chances."

Capriati slowly began to find her game in the second set, twice trading breaks with Davenport.

Capriati recorded the decisive break to go in front 6-5 then held serve to force a third set.

But Davenport wasted no time retaking control, again breaking Capriati at the first opportunity as a prelude to closing out the match.

"It was a quick first set, I didn't feel like I was playing that well to win 6-1," said Davenport. "I thought she didn't play well at all, it wasn't like I was so good, it was she was so bad.

Kept Fighting
"I knew in the second set she had to get better and she kept fighting, that's one of her big attributes."

Davenport added: "It's happened to me, you come out to play a match and do well and you don't. It's tough when you're number one, she's expected to go out there and play great."

Dokic, coming off her third career win in Moscow two weeks ago, continued her impressive run of form needing just 53 minutes to reach her fourth final in her last five events.

"I'm not playing bad," said the 18-year-old Yugoslav. "I've been playing well the last couple of months, I've put in a lot of hard work and I guess it's coming together.

"Lindsay and I have had some tough matches. She hits the ball big, her serve is one of the best in the game but I'm in the final again and I'm happy."