NEW YORK -- Tennis is, arguably, the most physically taxing of athletic endeavors, but its champions are mentally superior, too. Their wills, as much as their searing serves and fluid forehands, are what carry them to greatness.

	Known for her fitness this year, Jennifer Capriati said, "I think I definitely ran out of gas there a little bit."

So it is with Venus Williams. Her anticipated semifinal match with Jennifer Capriati came down to a single, numbing game in the pivotal first set that consumed eight deuces, 22 points and, perhaps, 100 strokes of the racket. Capriati had five chances to win the game and draw even, but Williams wouldn't let her. Finally, when Capriati's breathless forehand from the baseline found the net, Williams had won the set and, in retrospect, the match.

Williams' forceful 6-4, 6-2 victory against Capriati on Friday, landed her in Saturday's prime-time final against her sister Serena, who was a straight-sets winner over Martina Hingis.

It is only the second time in history that sisters have met in a Grand Slam final.

"It's sweet. It's sweet," Venus said. "Just real nice."

After the match, Capriati appeared to be on the edge of tears.

"I think I definitely ran out of gas there a little bit," she said. "It's just the first match that I really had to run down a lot of balls, work the point so much, every point. You know, fighting through that. I think it all just took its toll.

"I mean, she played great. I think she was making some unbelievable gets."

Capriati, 25, has authored the comeback story of the year in tennis, if not all of sports. She won the Australian Open and the French Open and a win here would have left her the consensus player of the year in women's tennis. After all, Capriati and Williams have won the past five Grand Slam singles titles between them. After Hingis' loss, a win against Williams in the semis would have given her a career-first No. 1 ranking.

Williams, however, has been closing fast since the French Open. She won Wimbledon and two weeks ago in New Haven, Conn., handled Capriati in a straight-sets match. That, and Capriati's 0-3 career record against Williams had to weigh heavily on Capriati.

The secret of Capriati's resurgence is her tenacity. She worked tirelessly to improve her conditioning and it manifests itself in matches. Her first two service games were almost identical cases in point: Capriati survived a pair of grueling five-deuce, 16-point games that gave her a seemingly safe 4-1 lead.

Williams clearly had the bigger weapons, but the monster winners were balanced by handfuls of unforced errors. But as the match progressed, she began to gauge her big swings better and better. By the time they reached Capriati's third service game, Williams had found her groove. After failing on six previous break points, Williams finally converted when Capriati sent a ball into the net and held serve to level the match at 4-all.

Williams broke Capriati again, setting up the dramatic eight-deuce game at 5-4. Five times, Capriati held a break point and five times Williams answered before holding for the set. The tense first set took 52 minutes to play, or one minute longer than the entire semifinal match between Hingis and Serena Williams.

The second set was a mere formality, as Capriati felt her energy slowly leaking away.

"I feel like I'm in good shape," Capriati said. "But I guess within two weeks, it's tough to maintain that level of fitness. So you lose a little bit of that edge."

Said Williams: "I didn't see that she was tired or not. I didn't see her fatigue. Maybe she was searching for the answers to get back into the match."

In interviews, Williams presents herself in a light, airy way. She giggles and says funny things. On the court, however, she is steely and unforgiving.

Serving at 3-2 in the second set, she temporarily lost her focus and Capriati forced a deuce. When she gained the advantage, Williams stood on the baseline and stared at Capriati for a good five or six seconds. All match long, Capriati had been asking the chair umpire for a little extra time before Williams served, and now Williams was giving her a little more.

Williams made her point and then won the point.

And now, history beckons.