ROME (AP) - Venus Williams defeated the world's top-ranked woman tennis player, Martina Hingis, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 today to reach the Italian Open final for the second straight year.

The older of the two Williams sisters moved into the finals to play Mary Pierce, who defeated Amelie Mauresmo of France 6-7 (1-7), 6-2, 6-4 in the day's first semifinal.

Williams lost to Hingis in the Italian final last year.

The two 18-year-olds have been the tour's top two players this season, each winning three titles.

Williams captured her first career clay title last week in Hamburg, Germany.

Williams played a strong first set today then appeared to lose concentration and began making a string of unforced errors. She scored only eight points in the second set.

She rallied back in the third set, breaking Hingis at love in the last game of the match as the top seed made three consecutive forehand errors.

Hingis took a month off prior to this clay court tournament at the Foro Italico.

Pierce lost the first set in her match, then left the court briefly to have her left leg wrapped to protect a strained groin muscle.

The No. 4 seed came back to play a more varied game.

``Sometimes you have to do what it takes to win,'' said Pierce. ``I changed tactics to day and it worked. ... That means I also used my brain out there.''

For 19-year-old Mauresmo, a finalist in the Australian Open and the No. 10 seed in this tournament, it was the first time she played in the main draw in the Rome tournament.

``I was a bit tense at the end of the match and I think next time I will have to be more relaxed,'' said Mauresmo, who moved into the top ten in the rankings with her play in this tournament.

On Friday, Mauresmo beat unseeded Austrian Sylvia Plischke 6-2, 6-3, and Pierce got past another French player, No. 8 Sandrine Testud, 6-4, 7-5.