Ukraine s Svitolina reaches Italian Open final

Rome May 21 (IANS) 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
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