Saturday, 10 May, 2008

Novak Djokovic and Stanislas Wawrinka will meet in the final of the Rome Masters after both saw their opponents retire during Saturday's semi-finals.

Unseeded Swiss Wawrinka was on the court with sixth-seeded Andy Roddick for just 15 minutes, when the American - trailing 3-0 - conceded the match due to a back injury.

"I felt something a little bit last night in my back," said Roddick, who had posted a three-set win over 14th seed Tommy Robredo in the quarter-finals on Friday.

Djokovic took just 21 minutes to race past unseeded Radek Stepanek 6-0 in the first set, and after losing the first game of the second, the Czech bowed out due to illness.

"I am very sorry, especially for the fans, but I just could not finish the match today," Stepanek said. "I started feeling bad for the first time after practice this morning and then I ate lunch and was feeling a bit better.

"Once the match started, however, I started feeling worse and worse. I was dizzy and weak and couldn't play. I just need to rest now and recover for my next event."

This was the second successive match Djokovic won via retirement as Nicolas Almagro pulled out of their quarter-final on Friday with a right wrist injury.

"I did not expect two opponents to retire in an event like this," Djokovic said. "But these are the circumstances and this is sport.

"Anything can happen, you know. I think this is another reason and another showing that the season is really tough, especially this year because of the Olympics."

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