Djokovic in final

Serbia's Novak Djokovic swept David Ferrer aside in straight sets on Saturday to qualify for the final of the Italian Open where he will meet either Stan Wawrinka or Roger Federer.

Djokovic, the defending champion, had warned of the danger of Ferrer on Friday after his quarter-final victory over Japan's Kei Nishikori.

But Ferrer, the Spanish seventh seed and renowned clay court specialist, was broken early in the opening set as Djokovic raced to seal the set 6-4.

Ferrer battled hard to break Djokovic's service in a thrilling sixth game of the second set where advantage switched hands several times before the Spaniard sent a backhand return out.

Ferrer had never made the Italian Open final and his chances appeared to dip soon after those efforts.

The Spaniard lost focus and precision and eventually Djokovic earned the break in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead, the Serbian sealing the match with his next service game.

The win keeps Djokovic on track for his fourth Rome title, having won his third in the space of six years in 2014 when he stopped Rafael Nadal from winning an eighth crown in the Italian capital.

In the earlier round, Swiss eighth seed Stan Wawrinka sent seven-time champion Rafael Nadal crashing out of the Italian Open with his maiden clay court win over the Spaniard at the quarter-final stage on Friday.

At a packed Foro Italico, where Hollywood star Ben Stiller was among the VIPs, Wawrinka wowed the crowd on his way to a thrilling 7-6 (9/7), 6-2 victory to secure a semi-final match-up with compatriot Roger Federer on Saturday.

However, Nadal remains the favourite for Roland Garros, the highlight of the clay court season which begins in less than 10 days' time in Paris and where he claimed his ninth French Open title last year.

But the Spaniard's defeat at such an early stage of the competition in Rome will have alerted his rivals to minor chinks in his clay court armour.

But the Spaniard, who claimed he was handicapped by playing at night time when the ball bounces lower than during the day, ultimately took his hat off to his Swiss opponent.