By Stephen Wilson
The Associated Press

WIMBLEDON, England - Serena Williams rallied from a set and 3-1 down - winning three key points with a cracked racket - to defeat Amelie Mauresmo and advance to the Wimbledon final for the third consecutive year.

Williams, trying to become the third woman in 35 years to win three consecutive titles, won 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-4 in a topsy-turvy match full of drama, momentum swings, spectacular shots and animated displays of emotion by both players.

"I didn't have a game today," Williams said. "I just really had heart, that's all. I kept fighting."

Williams will face 17-year-old Maria Sharapova in Saturday's final. Sharapova, who also came back from a set and 3-1 down, beat Lindsay Davenport, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1.

Sharapova is the youngest Wimbledon finalist since Martina Hingis.

Sharapova is also the first Russian woman to reach the Wimbledon final since Olga Morozova, who lost to Chris Evert in 1974.

It took nearly 2 1/2 hours for Williams to overcome Mauresmo, who received treatment several times on her back.

It's the first trip back to a Grand Slam final for Williams since she beat her sister Venus for last year's Wimbledon title.

It looked as if Williams was on her way to losing to Mauresmo for only the second time in eight matches. After blowing two set points while serving for the first set and losing the tiebreaker, she found herself down 3-1 in the second.

Then came a bizarre turning point. Williams slammed her racket to the ground, cracking the frame, after making a backhand error to go down 0-30 on her serve. She kept playing with the racket and won three straight points before it buckled completely.

The third set swung back and forth, with both players shouting and pumping their fists after big points. When Williams hit a backhand passing shot down the line serving at 3-3, she arched her back and clutched her fists in a long pose, and took control of the match from there.