SportsLine wire reports

MELBOURNE, Australia -- One more victory and Amelie Mauresmo joins Chris O'Neil as an unseeded Grand Slam tournament champion.

One more victory and Martina Hingis will be Australian Open champion for the third consecutive year.

"IT WILL BE AN interesting final," said top-ranked Lindsay Davenport, who was ousted in the semifinals by Mauresmo 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.

The No. 2-ranked Hingis is riding a 20-match winning streak. Her opponent, the 19-year-old Mauresmo, was winning the 1996 French Open and Wimbledon junior titles when Hingis, 18, was starting to make her mark on the regular pro tour.

Mauresmo shot up the rankings from 109th to 29th last year. She now could become only the second unseeded women's singles winner in the 120 Grand Slam events of the three-decade-old Open Era. The last was Australian Chris O'Neil, at the 1978 Australian Open.

With her victory over Davenport, Mauresmo will rise to at least No. 18 in the rankings.

Hingis considers herself the favorite against Mauresmo, whom she is playing for the third time. Hingis won both of their previous meetings but was taken to three sets both times.

"I have a winning record, but not a very easy one," Hingis said.

LIKE DAVENPORT, HINGIS NOTED that Mauresmo's sizzling one-handed backhand is one of the biggest strokes in women's tennis.

"On the court, she moves very quickly and the way she plays is very unusual in women's tennis. She has a lot of topspin," Hingis said.

"She's producing very good tennis. She played very consistent these two weeks, and beating Lindsay ... I mean, it's a great effort.

"I hope to do better."

Mauresmo almost didn't make it past the first round, staving off two match points in her victory over Corina Morariu of Boca Raton, Fla.

"My coach told me that usually when it happens like this, players are winning the tournament, or going very far," she said.

Mauresmo said she beat Davenport with a plan that was "to mix it up a little bit, make her run, make her move a lot, try to use that slice backhand that I play really well, and push on her forehand."

Amelie Mauresmo is tennis' latest teen sensation. (AP)

And she has a strategy worked out for Martina.

"I know how to play Martina. I played her twice last year. I will have tactics."

DAVENPORT'S NO. 1 RANKING is safe, even if Hingis wins here.

Davenport said Hingis might respond better than she did to Mauresmo's game.

"Amelie has to hold her serve easily so she can get chances to break in the match. Martina, I think, likes the ball she (Mauresmo) hits. Martina takes the ball early.

"I think Mauresmo has to hit the shots very deep, or Martina will definitely take advantage of it."