ACAPULCO, México - The dream final has come true at the Abierto Mexicano TELCEL presented by HSBC, as Venus Williams and Flavia Pennetta breezed past their respective semifinal opponents to set up a title clash between the Top 2 seeds on the red clay.
Pennetta, the second seed, had lost three of her previous five meetings against Iveta Benesova, the fourth seed this week. But history - which included Benesova beating Pennetta for the title right here five years ago - didn't repeat itself on Friday afternoon, as the Italian eased past the Czech, 63 63.
"It's been five years since our last match here so it was a completely different match," Benesova said. "I didn't play as well as in our previous matches, but she didn't give me many chances to. She played really well today."
It will be Pennetta's sixth straight final in Acapulco, having won the title in 2005 and last year and finished runner-up three times, in 2004, 2006 and 2007.
"It feels like I'm always playing the final here, it's really a magical moment for me," Pennetta said. "I really love playing here. Hopefully I can win another title here tomorrow. Right now, though, I'm focusing on the doubles semifinal."
Pennetta and Gisela Dulko would end up losing to Lourdes Domínguez Lino and Arantxa Parra Santonja in that doubles semifinal match, 63 64.
Top-seeded Williams followed Pennetta into the final with a 60 63 drubbing of Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, the only unseeded player in the final four. Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles titles on clay, although in the minority, are nothing new for Williams, who has won seven of her 40 overall titles on the surface.
The Williams-Pennetta rivalry is intriguing, as Pennetta actually leads their head-to-head, 3-2. Williams won their very first meeting at Seoul in 2007, 62 62, but Pennetta ran off three in a row from there, including the next week in Bangkok then at Roland Garros and Moscow in 2007. Williams snapped the streak in the Zürich final right after the aforementioned Moscow loss, in straight sets, no less.
Pennetta, who has been ranked as high as No.11 in the world, is one of the only seven players ever to beat Williams three times in a row. The others are Lindsay Davenport, Martina Hingis, Jana Novotna, Serena Williams, Amélie Mauresmo and Jelena Jankovic. With former world No.2 Novotna being the only one in that group never to have reached No.1, it makes Pennetta's achievement even more special.
"I've played good matches against Venus in the past, but tomorrow will be a new match, and anything can happen," Pennetta stated. "I will try to bring my best tennis tomorrow, and hopefully I'll be able to do it again. We'll see."
The second doubles semifinal duel, pitting Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez against Benesova and Zahlavova Strycova, took place later on.
