TO THE dismay of old-school idealists who say the game should centre merely on winning and losing, most of the talk at the BNL D’Italia Masters has not focused on who will lift the trophy today, but on which contestant can last the course.

Debate had already been rife about this season’s demanding clay-court calendar, concentrated by a week not just to accommodate the Olympic Games, but also to pander to American television moguls, who demanded that the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami was played a week later in March to fit in with their schedule. Now Rafael Nadal, heralded as the king of clay, is refusing to talk to ATP president Etienne de Villiers, feeling that he and his subjects have been betrayed by the tour’s administrators.

On a perfect day for tennis, with barely a breath of wind breezing across the Foro Italico and the sun high in the sky, the problem was brought sharply into focus: one semi-final lasted just 14 minutes before Andy Roddick insisted his back was too painful to continue; the other went on only 10 minutes longer, Radek Stepanek throwing in the towel, saying that he felt nauseous.

Today’s finalists, Stanislas Wawrinka and third-seeded Novak Djokovic, were in a minority of two in being happy with the outcome. A capacity crowd hooted their derision at the enforced withdrawals - not surprisingly, given that the best tickets cost nearly £100 and even the spectators at the top of the temporary grandstand had paid about £30. Most of the action they saw centred around the activity of doctors and physiotherapists rather than balls flying across the net.

These withdrawals took the total this week to five: Andy Murray’s first-round opponent, Juan Martin del Potro, succumbed to a back injury; Fernando Gonzalez, the 12th seed, could not even take the court for his second match because of a painful leg; and Djokovic’s previous opponent, Nicolas Almagro, retired after hurting his wrist. The full extent of the malaise is illustrated by the fact that in six clay-court events this spring, the total of pull-outs is an alarming 23.

“I’ve been saying for years that the schedule needs to be adjusted and there needs to be a bit of time to recover,” said Roddick, who felt a twinge after his win over Tommy Robredo the previous evening and was then in agony during the only service game he managed before retiring with the score 3-0 in Wawrinka’s favour.

“I just made a wrong movement and my back went into complete spasm,” said the American. “I can’t really move or do much with my left arm. You can’t play like that.”

Like the deposed champion, Nadal, who is suffering from a blistered foot, and all the other Roman casualties, Roddick will wait as long as possible before deciding whether to play in the next Masters Series event - which, to illustrate the relentless schedule, begins this morning in Hamburg.

In the afternoon, Wawrinka, who beat Murray in the second round, will step out for his first final at this level. The 23-year-old Swiss will meet Djokovic, who two weeks ago was forced to quit his Monte Carlo semi-final against Roger Federer when feeling unwell.

Fortunes were reversed yesterday. Stepanek, who less than 24 hours earlier had beaten the world No 1, looked under the weather from the outset. After repeated bouts with ice-packs, several visits from the tournament doctor and an extended break following the first set, the Czech said he could last no further with the score at 6-0 1-0.