Wawrinka reaches final in Rome
Swiss tennis player Stanislas Wawrinka has reached his first-ever final of a Masters event following the retirement due to injury of sixth-seeded Andy Roddick.
The American pulled up awkwardly after Wawrinka hit a forehand winner in the third game on Saturday, then asked for a trainer on the changeover.
Roddick came back out and double-faulted, then quit with the score standing at 3-0.
This is Wawrinka’s second final of the year. He lost his first final to Andy Murray in Doha, Qatar.
Wawrinka will face Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic on Sunday. Djokovic was leading Radek Stepanek 6-0, 1-0 on Saturday when the Czech player retired.
Wawrinka is ranked a career-high 24th this week after reaching the semifinal of the Barcelona Open last weekend, losing to David Ferrer. Next week he will move into the top 10.
With Roger Federer it will be the first time two Swiss players have been in the top 10.
Wawrinka is aiming for the second title of his career after winning a small tournament in Umag, Croatia, in 2006.
On Friday Stepanek eliminated top-ranked Federer in the clay-court warm-up for the French Open, which begins on May 25.
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