Playing like the Steffi Graf of old, the former world No. 1 displayed her best tennis since September with a 6-3, 6-2 semifinal victory Saturday over Jana Novotna in the Paris Open.
Graf advanced to a potentially dramatic title match against Australian Open champion Mary Pierce, who beat Iva Majoli of Croatia 6-3, 6-4 in the other semifinal.Pierce, now one notch below Graf in the rankings at No. 3, defeated the German star in the Virginia Slims championships in November.
That was Graf's last tournament appearance before this week, when back troubles eased enough for her to start a comeback.
Graf holds a 3-2 career edge over Pierce.
"I'm glad Steffi is back and playing well," Pierce said. "But Steffi knows I am not afraid of her."
Graf lost her No. 1 ranking to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario while out of action for three months. She could gain it back with a title here, which would be her first championship since an event at San Diego last July.
"I'm extremely happy to make the final. It makes up for the bad times," Graf said. "I still need a couple more weeks of good training.
"It was a big step for me," she said. `It was a difficult match for the first time in quite some time. I think I handled it very well."