SYDNEY -- Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo scored a morale-boosting 7-5 6-3 win over world number one Martina Hingis on Friday for a place in the women's final of the Sydney international, the main warm-up tournament for next week's Australian Open.

Swiss star Hingis beat Mauresmo in last year's Australian Open final after controversially dismissing her as "a half-man".

Hingis denied before Friday's match that there was any bad blood left between them, but the muscular, openly gay Frenchwoman was clearly desperate to claim her scalp before the year's first grand slam and fought back from a 3-5 deficit in the first set for one of the best wins of her career.

Mauresmo, world-ranked number nine, will meet American Lindsay Davenport in Saturday's women's final at Sydney's new Olympic tennis arena. Davenport had an easy time with Anna Kournikova, beating her 6-3, 6-2.

"The trouble between us was all over a year ago. We're not the best friends in the world but I think that's the end of it," Mauresmo said of Hingis.

"She's the world number one and she's a very good player so this gives me a lot of confidence for the season."

After breaking Hingis in the fourth game for a 3-1 lead, Mauresmo lost her serve twice in succession and squandered four break points in the eighth game to sink to fall behind 3-5.

Calming her nerves -- but still risking all with stinging returns from both forehand and backhand -- Mauresmo won the next four games to take the first set 7-5.

The second set was equally scrappy, with four breaks of serve in the first seven games. Mauresmo scored the key break to go up 5-3 and served out the match with an ace.

Although Hingis says she is in the best form of her career, Mauresmo was well ahead in the fitness stakes, moving well and using her power to devastating effect on the loose balls.

She also benefited from Hingis's decision to play consistently to her backhand, which Mauresmo considers her best shot.

"I guess she's pretty confident, she's worked out a lot, she seems to be pretty fit, and she was hitting that backhand down the line pretty solid today," Hingis said of her rival.