Novak Djokovic at full stretch during his semifinal win over David Ferrer at the Italian Open.
CNN  — 

Top seed Novak Djokovic overcame his concerns over the playing surface at the Foro Italico to stay on course for a fourth Italian Open title Saturday.

Djokovic will play world number two Roger Federer in the final as he bids to extend his current winning run of 21 matches.

The Serbian beat David Ferrer in the semifinal but complained to the umpire about conditions on the clay court during the second set of his straight sets 6-4 6-4 win.

With the French Open due to start next weekend, Djokovic is anxious not to get injured as he bids to complete a career grand slam with a first triumph at Roland Garros.

“We had some places where the holes are really deep… it’s not just for the serve, if you make those holes and you’re sliding and getting into that hole, you can twist your ankle easily,” he told reporters after his win.

Federer is the last man to beat Djokovic, in the final of the Dubai tournament in February, and showed he is in fine form with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Stanislas Wawrinka.

Nadal stunned

His fellow Swiss had stunned seven-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals on Friday night, but could not repeat that magic.

Wawrinka, clearly buoyed by that win, raced to a 3-0 lead, but Federer hit back with two breaks to take the first set.

Paying for his efforts of the previous evening, errors crept into Wawrinka’s game and another pair of breaks gave Federer a comfortable victory.

Federer leads Djokovic 20-18 in career matches, but lost to the top ranked player in the final at Indian Wells on a hard court surface the last time they met.

In the women’s final, Maria Sharapova will play Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain after tough last four victories.

Sharapova avenged an earlier defeat this year to young Russian compatriot Daria Gavrilova with a 7-5 6-3 win in one hour 48 minutes, winning the final five games to close out victory.

Suarez Navarro stunned second seed Simona Halep of Romania in three grueling sets in the opening semifinal.

The results mean Sharapova will leapfrog Halep from third into second in the new rankings.