Ukrainian Elina Svitolina advanced to the final of Italian Open tennis tournament when Garbiñe Muguruza retired with an injury while trailing 1-4 in the first set.
The third-seeded Spaniard on Saturday stopped just after 22 minutes due to neck pain. Muguruza said she had the problem before the match but wanted to give it a go in the women's second semi-final, reports Xinhua Efe.
Svitolina, the No. 8 seed, will play the final against Romania's Simona Halep, who defeated the Netherlands' Kiki Bertens earlier on Saturday 7-5, 6-1.
Halep is seeking her second straight WTA premier clay-court title, having won the Madrid Open last weekend.
The sixth-seeded Romanian is rounding into form ahead of the French Open, tennis' lone clay-court Grand Slam event, which gets under way on May 28.
--IANS
gau/vt
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