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Friday's first men's semifinal at the French Open saw Swiss slugger Stan Wawrinka hold off heavy French crowd favorite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets. Last year's Australian Open champion Wawrinka becomes the second Swiss man to reach the final at Roland Garros, joining former champion and four-time runner-up Roger Federer.
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Wawrinka's opponent in Sunday's finale will be world No. 1 Novak Djokovic or third-seeded Andy Murray.
The eighth-seeded Wawrinka got past the 14th-seeded former Aussie Open runner- up Tsonga in 6-3, 6-7 (1-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 fashion on a hot, sunny day at Court Chatrier.
Wawrinka comfortably took the first set against Tsonga, as he broke the Frenchman in the fourth game and then served out the rest of the way for the lead.
Tsonga, however, fought back in the second set.
Down a break at 3-4, Tsonga got the break back and eventually forced a tiebreak, which he dominated by racing out to a 6-0 lead and winning seven- of-eight points.
Wawrinka rebounded by claiming the third set via tiebreak and then opened the fourth set with a big service break. The Swiss then held his own serve the rest of the way and converted on his first match point when Tsonga netted a forehand return to send Wawrinka into his second career Grand Slam final.
Wawrinka stunned Rafael Nadal in last year's Aussie Open final.
Tsonga fell to 0-2 in his career French Open semifinals and 1-5 in Grand Slam semis overall.
Wawrinka is now 4-3 lifetime against Tsonga, including 2-1 at Roland Garros. The Swiss topped the Frenchman in the round of 32 in Paris in 2011 and Tsonga bested Wawrinka in the round of 16 the following year.
The 30-year-old Lausanne native Wawrinka will appear in his 19th career final, seeking a 10th title. He captured championships in Chennai and Rotterdam earlier this season.
Wawrinka had never reached a French Open semifinal prior to this week. He's now 2-2 in his career Grand Slam semis, including a loss against Djokovic at the Aussie Open back in January.
[SportsNetwork.com]
