Paris – David Ferrer wrecked French hopes of a first male champion at Roland Garros in 30 years on Friday when he defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 in the semi-finals.
It was a crippling blow to the sixth seed who was out to match the feat of Yannick Noah, who last won the title for France in 1983.
But it was a richly deserved reward for outstanding perseverance on the part of 31-year-old Ferrer, who reached his first Grand Slam final in his 42nd appearance, by far the longest wait in the Open Era.
In the final, he has the daunting task of going up against fellow Spaniard and seven-time champion Rafael Nadal, who defeated world number one Novak Djokovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7 (3/7), 9-7 in the first semi-final.
Nadal leads their head-to-heads 19-4.
It will be the first all-Spanish final since 2002 when Albert Costa defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero.
“I am really happy to be in the final at Roland Garros. It's my first ever Grand Slam final,” said Ferrer, who has yet to drop a set in the tournament.
“I am older, but more experienced. I am not too tired, so this is very important. To play the final against Rafael Nadal I need to be 100 percent to be able to play good against him.”
The match had been given top billing in France as the belief was growing that the popular Tsonga could end 30 years of French frustration on the red claycourts of Roland Garros.
The 28-year-old from the car-racing town of Le Mans revved up home hopes of a title win on Sunday with his straight sets demolition of 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer in the quarter-finals.
But coming immediately after the marathon, five-set win by Nadal over Djokovic in the opening semi, there was a sense of anti-climax when the players marched out onto a half-empty centre court in the early evening sunshine.
The mood was not helped either when Ferrer made by far the better start, jumping out into a 4-0 lead in just 15 minutes.
The crowd chanted Tsonga's name in a bid to kick-start his match, but little was going right for the Frenchman who was playing in his first French Open semi-final in what was his sixth attempt.
He did have a break point in the following game, but failed to convert that as he found himself embroiled in a succession of punishing baseline rallies - bread and butter to a player like Ferrer.
The Spaniard, who lost to Nadal in last year's semi-finals, duly wrapped up the set 6-1 and Tsonga was left looking decidedly tight and unable to deploy his own big-hitting game.
Tsonga nosed in front at the start of the second set and that appeared to briefly unlock the door for the Frenchman as he broke to love in the following game.
He took a 3-0 lead, but Ferrer broke back to 3-2 with Tsonga hotly contesting a line call against him on break point.
A double fault from the home hero handed Ferrer another break to lead 4-3, but he handed that back in the next game with a couple of uncustomary unforced errors.
Tsonga hit long on set point at 5-4 and that proved costly as he dropped the ensuing tie-break 7/3 to go two sets to love down.
French hopes were fading fast and they dimmed even further early in the third set as Ferrer broke in the fourth game to lead 3-1.
That was all he needed as an increasingly frustrated Tsonga looked bereft of ideas and lost in his own thoughts, at one point forgetting to tell Ferrer he was serving with new balls.
Ferrer got to 5-2 up and won five points in a row from 40-0 down on Tsonga's serve to clinch the win. – AFP