Stan Wawrinka Sets Up Final Against Marcos Baghdatis In Dubai

Marcos Baghdatis battled back from a set down to set up a final against Stan Wawrinka at the Dubai Championships. Second seed Wawrinka was leading 6-4 3-0 when Nick Kyrgios pulled out with a back injury, but Baghdatis had to work a little harder as he overcame Feliciano Lopez 3-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-1 in the later semi-final.

Wawrinka showed no hard feelings towards Kyrgios in their first match since the Australian made comments about the Swiss player's girlfriend during a heated match last August in Montreal. For the second day in a row, Kyrgios received treatment on his back problem, but briefly threatened a fightback when he levelled the first set at 4-4 but Wawrinka took the next five games in a row before Kyrgios confirmed he could not continue.

Kyrgios is the second significant retirement in two days as Novak Djokovic pulled out of his quarter-final against Lopez with an eye infection on Thursday. The Spaniard seemed on course for the final when he took the opening set against Baghdatis, but 50 unforced errors aided the Cypriot, who claimed five breaks on the way to victory.