London: Top seed and defending champion Serena Williams reached the Wimbledon final today (July 1, 2004) clawing her way back from one set and a break down to defeat injury-hit French fourth seed Amelie Mauresmo 6-7 (4/7) 7-5 6-4 in a Centre Court thriller.

Mauresmo appeared to have the match in the bag at one set and 3-1 up, but Williams redoubled her aggression and Mauresmo started to grimace and rub her lower back in a sign that one of her old injuries was back.

The French woman needed off-court treatment and battled on after losing the second set using pure shot-making to stay in the match instead of raw power.

But in the end Williams regained her composure and confidence and a last series of attacks put the match away after 2 hrs and 27 minutes of enthralling tennis.

"It was really tough. Amelie is a great player, very talented and after the first set I got a little down on myself but I told myself to fight it out," said Williams.

"After all the injuries I have had over the last year, making the final again is a really special moment."

She will play 17-year-old Russian 13th seed Maria Sharapova for the title on July 3.

Sharapova had earlier defeated US fifth seed Lindsay Davenport 2-6 7-6 (7/5) 6-1.

The two finalists have only met once before at Miami earlier this year when Williams won 6-4 6-3.

Williams came into the final on an imperious note having swept aside old rival Jennifer Capriati 6-1 6-1 in the semis.