# Sports

Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina reaches Italian Open final

Svitolina advanced to the final of Italian Open when Garbiñe Muguruza retired with an injury.

IANS | Rome | May 21, 2017 10:38 am

Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina reaches Italian Open final

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.

# Sports

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No.4 seeds Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens captured their first team title at the Italian Open by defeating top seeds Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-4 in the final, here.

# Sports

Alcaraz’s loss against Marozsan at Italian Open changes the battle for World No. 1

Carlos Alcaraz's early exit from the Italian Open with loss against Fabian Marozsan has repercussions beyond the Rome ATP Masters 1000 event and it also could have a big effect on the battle for No. 1 in the ATP Rankings.

# Sports

Italian Open: Djokovic, Rune, Rudd advance to round of 32

The top seed advanced to the next round after a win over Tomas Martin Etcheverry by 7-6(5), 6-2 at the ATP Masters 1000 event. This win was a hard-earned one for Djokovic, who committed 21 unforced errors and appeared physically unwell during a rough first set.