Injuries Give Djokovic and Wawrinka Byes to Final

Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic and unseeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka will meet in the final of the Rome Masters after both their semi-final opponents retired injured.

Serbian third seed Djokovic went through after unseeded Czech Radek Stepanek, who defeated world number one Roger Federer, pulled out with what looked like a wrist problem when 6-0, 1-0 down.

Meanwhile, 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.

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 favor.

Almagro had himself gone through to that stage when last year's finalist, Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, pulled out of their third-round match with a leg injury.