Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic and unseeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka will meet in the final of the Rome Masters on Sunday after both their semi-final opponents retired injured on Saturday. Serbian third seed Djokovic went through after unseeded Czech Radek Stepanek, who stunned world number one Roger Federer on Friday, pulled out with what looked like a wrist problem when 6-0 1-0 down.
Wawrinka made the final after American sixth seed Andy Roddick withdrew, apparently suffering from a shoulder injury, at 3-0 down in the first set. On Sunday, Wawrinka will be aiming to repeat the success of Spain's Felix Mantilla, who defeated Federer in the 2003 final to become the only unseeded Rome champion of the Open era.
This year's tournament has been dogged by injuries. Djokovic reached the last four when Spain's Nicolas Almagro withdrew from their quarter-final with a wrist problem with the score at 6-1 1-0 in the Serbian's favour. Almagro had gone through to that stage when Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, last year's finalist, pulled out of their third-round match with a leg injury.