Top-ranked defending champion Roger Federer overwhelmed Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-1 yesterday to reach the final of the Hamburg Masters.

Playing under a closed canvas roof on a rainy day, Federer could have made the score even more one-sided had he used more than one of his eight break points in the first set.

Federer has not dropped a set on his way to the final and has yet to play a seeded player. His opponent will be either Spain's Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic, who played in the other semifinal for the No. 2 ranking.

The Serb has won the Australian Open and two Masters Series titles already this year and will take over Nadal's No. 2 world ranking if he wins.

"It was a long first set and maybe that wore him out a little bit and set it up for the second," Federer said at a news conference.

"Maybe I didn't serve my best today but I was very solid and consistent from the baseline and played a very good match."

The tournament is a major warmup for the French Open later this month, the only grand slam title that Federer has yet to win. He has won in Hamburg four times. Federer has won only one title this year, at a relatively small claycourt tournament last month in Estoril, Portugal.

In Rome, Maria Sharapova pulled out of yesterday's semifinal at the Italian Open with a left calf strain.

The second-seeded Russian was slated to play defending champion Jelena Jankovic.

Sharapova said she first felt the injury in the second set of her 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-2 quarterfinal win on Friday over Patty Schnyder, a match that ended near midnight.

"Last night, I had 2 1/2 to 3 hours of treatment and it felt good, but when I woke up this morning it was really sore. I took a little jog and it didn't go well," Sharapova said. "It was really uncomfortable."

In today's final, Jankovic will meet either sixth-seeded Anna Chakvetadze or French qualifier Alize Cornet, who were playing later.

Sharapova will still take over the No. 1 spot in the rankings tomorrow due to Justine Henin's retirement. She said the injury would not affect her preparations for the French Open, which begins next weekend.

"I don't think so. It's a strain," she said. "They said I need maybe three days off before they test it again."

Withdrawals have been a common theme at the Foro Italico this year.

Both semifinals at the Rome Masters last week ended early due to players quitting, setting the tournament record with five retirements in all. On Friday, Serena Williams withdrew in the quarterfinals with a back problem.

Sharapova said one of the problems is that players don't want to take any risks so close to a grand slam. If this was Roland Garros, Sharapova indicated she would have tried to play.

"Last year, I basically played without a shoulder, and I got to the semifinals," she said. "In a grand slam, you do whatever it takes, whether that's taking a few extra painkillers or whatever."

The Sharapova-Jankovic match was scheduled as the day's second semifinal match. When Sharapova pulled out, the Chakvetadze-Cornet match was pushed back and a doubles match featuring Iveta Benesova and Janette Husarova against Klaudia Jans and Mervana Jugic-Salkic was moved onto center court.

"I hope in two days I'll be able to be on the court and be normal," she said.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily May 18, 2008)