AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. (AP) -- The best match of the tournament produced one of the most important victories of Amanda Coetzer's career.
Roving the baseline with scrappy persistence Saturday, the fourth-seeded Coetzer rallied for a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Nadia Petrova in a riveting 2 1/2 -hour semifinal in the Bausch & Lomb Championships.
Coetzer, who also lost in a doubles match later Saturday, has a short turnaround before playing sixth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo in the final Sunday. Mauresmo won her 13th straight match, defeating seventh-seeded Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario 6-3, 6-2 in the earlier semifinal.
The second semi was the highlight of this day.
It was a struggle of both physical stamina and mental toughness between a crafty veteran and an 18-year-old Russian, ranked 90th in the world and trying to take the next big step.
Coetzer persevered. And suddenly, this small tournament played at a tony beach resort in north Florida -- viewed as a mini-vacation for some of these players -- has taken on a whole new meaning to the South African.
``I think this is probably one of the toughest matches of my whole career,'' Coetzer said. ``Not to put too much importance on one match, but I think this was one of those matches where it could make a big difference at the end of the year when you look back at it.''
At 5-foot-2, Coetzer was overpowered early by her 5-10 opponent. Coetzer trailed 2-4, 15-40 in the second set, when she won the point that kept her alive and typified her effort on a sunny, 85-degree day on the soft, green clay.
Driven 10 feet behind the baseline, Coetzer lunged for Petrova's overhead return and somehow got a racket on it. It floated to midcourt, where Petrova lined up, but hit it out to make it 30-40. Three points later -- including one double fault by Petrova -- Coetzer had won the game and captured the momentum.
``I really don't know how I got out of that,'' Coetzer said. ``I was in deep trouble.''
Coetzer spent the rest of the second set, and most of the third, spinning high ground strokes deep into the court. Petrova, a power player, tried to squelch the rhythm with a few advances to net, but she never regained the pace that helped her dominate the first set.
Clearly, Petrova lost the mental test of this match against a savvy opponent 11 years her elder. The statistics told the story: Coetzer hit just 13 winners, but made only 20 unforced errors, compared to 38 winners and 69 unforced errors for Petrova.
Sullen after the match, Petrova vented her frustration.
``I was disappointed with her tennis, with what she showed to me,'' she said. ``I'm sorry. I didn't expect anything like that -- a top-10 player playing moon balls.''
A winner of eight career WTA Tour events, including one in Acapulco six weeks ago, the 10th-ranked Coetzer made her first final at Amelia Island in nine appearances.
She surely won't be as fresh as Mauresmo, who entered her semifinal with a full day's rest after advancing through the quarterfinals in a walkover over the injured Elena Dementieva.
The sharpness showed, as Mauresmo mixed pace nicely and committed only 17 unforced errors against Sanchez-Vicario.
``I know she likes to get into a rhythm, and I just wanted to mix it up with a variation of spins,'' Mauresmo said. ``I varied it a lot. I know she didn't like that.''
Sanchez-Vicario played five sets Friday -- two in singles and three in teaming with Martina Navratilova in doubles -- and didn't look as sharp as she did in her quarterfinal upset victory over Martina Hingis.
``It's not an excuse,'' Sanchez-Vicario said. ``I'm a professional, and when you advance in singles and doubles, it's going to be difficult. Today, I wasn't getting to the ball as fast. She was more fresh. But besides that, I made more errors.''
The loss halted a seven-match winning streak for Sanchez-Vicario that included just her second win over Hingis in 17 tries.
Mauresmo is seeking her third straight tournament championship. She won in Paris and Nice on carpet in February, before taking nearly two months off, skipping big tournaments in Indian Wells, Calif., and Miami.
``I think I made the right decision not to play in the two previous tournaments,'' Mauresmo said. ``I needed some rest and to get some preparation on clay. So, things are coming together for me.''
She is 19-1 this season. With a victory in the final, she will move back into the top 10 after struggling in a 2000 season marred by back injuries.
In the doubles semifinals, Martina Navratilova moved one step closer to a title at age 44, teaming with Sanchez-Vicario to defeat Coetzer and Lori McNeil 6-4, 7-5. Sanchez-Vicario and Navratilova, who is playing a limited doubles schedule this year, will play Conchita Martinez and Patricia Tarabini in the final Sunday.
