British number one Andy Murray has reached his first Italian Open final following a straight-sets victory over unseeded Frenchman Lucas Pouille.
The 29-year-old Scot's preparations took a hit due to the heavy rain, which delayed the match by an hour and left neither individual able to practise on the court beforehand.
Pouille, playing in his first ATP Masters semi-final, looked nervous as he dropped serve from 40-0 in the fourth game and, after another rain delay, the second seed broke again to clinch the set.
Two more breaks of serve in the second set ultimately gave Murray a 6-2 6-1 win and allowed him to surpass his previous best effort of reaching the Rome competition's last four in 2011.
