UPDATE 1-Tennis-Djokovic charges into Monte Carlo final

MONTE CARLO, April 18 (Reuters) - World number three Novak Djokovic overcame a sluggish start to beat Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6 6-1 6-3 on Saturday and reach the Monte Carlo Masters final.

The Serb will meet either world number one Rafael Nadal of Spain or British fourth seed Andy Murray in Sunday's final.

The 13th-seeded Wawrinka, who had upset fellow Swiss and three-times Monte Carlo finalist Roger Federer in the third round, made the better start but gradually ran out of steam.

Wawrinka staved off four break points before snatching Djokovic's serve in the ninth game at the fourth attempt. After a double fault, he regained composure to wrap up the opening set when Djokovic netted a backhand slice.

The Serb put more pressure on Wawrinka in the second set, opening a 5-0 lead. He levelled the match easily after making only five unforced errors and pocketing seven of his 27 points at the net.

Djokovic was caught snoozing at the beginning of the decider, Wawrinka breaking to move 2-0 up.

But the 2007 Australian Open champion then started to dictate play from the baseline, finishing off the points with timely charges to the net.

Wawrinka staved off a first break point with a service winner, but another unforced error on his backhand put Djokovic back in contention.

The Serb tightened his grip, breaking again with a stunning forehand winner in a 10-minute fifth game.

He set up two match points on Wawrinka's serve at 5-3 when, off balance, he fired a crosscourt backhand winner, but the Swiss shrugged them off. On the third, though, Djokovic ended Wawrinka's resistance with a forehand winner. LINK...