Italian Open: Svitolina to face Halep in the final

Eighth-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukrain reached the finals of Italian Open after her opponent Garbiñe Muguruza retired from the semifinal clash due to injury. The French Open champions was trailing 1-4 when an injury forced her to leave the match. She will face third- seed Simona Halep of Romania, who reached her 1st Italian Open final after defeating Kiki Bertens.

Halep had won the Madrid Open last week. Svitolina will get a much-needed rest as she had to sweat it out for three sets to beat Venus in the quarterfinals and within 24 hours took back to the court. The final of the the tournament will be played on Sunday. Men's second finalist is yet to be decided as Djokovic's quarterfinal match, which he eventually won, was delayed due to rain.