Safina retires at SAR

Fez - Former No. 1 Dinara Safina has withdrawn from her semifinal against Italian Alberta Brianti at the Grand Prix SAR in Morocco.

Safina withdrew due to an illness. The WTA tour did not provide any further details on Safina's illness. The Russian was set to play her first semifinal since her runner-up finish at Cincinnati in August 2009.

In the other semifinal, Simona Halep of Romania beat Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 7-5, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the final against Brianti.

The seventh-seeded Halep made the most of her opponent's weak serve to break her six times. She made the decisive break in the ninth game of the second set and served out the match at love.

Halep lost to Iveta Benesova in last year's final after coming through the qualifiers.