Russian second seed Maria Sharapova pulled out of Saturday's Italian Open semi-final with Serb title holder Jelena Jankovic because of injury.

Sharapova, who will become world number one next week after Belgian Justine Henin retired from tennis on Wednesday, said she should be fully fit for the French Open which starts on May 25.

"The most important thing is recovery and to be ready for the French (Open), which is obviously a goal for every player," Australian Open champion Sharapova said.

"I'm going to Paris in a couple of hours. I'm going to get some treatment over there and try to be ready as soon as possible. I hope in two days I'll be able to be on court and be normal."

In the final, fourth seed Jankovic will meet the winner of the match between Russian sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze and 18-year-old French qualifier Alize Cornet.

"I wanted to play. I was ready for another challenge, another tough match," said Jankovic, who beat American seventh seed Venus Williams in the quarter-finals on Friday.

"Unfortunately she has an injury. It happens because we have really tough, intense matches. Our bodies cannot take it sometimes. I'm happy to be in the final and have a big opportunity to win to defend my title."

The women's tournament has been troubled by injuries, like the men's Rome Masters was last week.

Cornet, who knocked out last year's finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova on Thursday, got a walkover into the last four on Friday when Serena Williams pulled out of their quarter-final with a back injury.

Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova progressed to the quarter-finals on Thursday when Belarussian Victoria Azarenka retired with a knee injury from their third round match when the former was 6-2 1-0 ahead.

Both of the semi-finals and one of the quarters at last week's Rome Masters ended early because of injury.

Reuters