Friday 5 June 2015 21:37, UK
Stanislas Wawrinka has reached the French Open final after battling past home favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
In blistering conditions at Roland Garros, the Swiss No 8 seed held his nerve on the big points to clinch a 6-3 6-7 (7-1) 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 victory in three hours and 50 minutes.
In a contest that featured many break point opportunities – but few conversions – the steely Wawrinka did just enough to break Parisian hearts and probably end Tsonga’s chances of ever winning a Grand Slam title.
Despite being offered as many as 17 break-point chances, Tsonga was only able to take one of them against the dogged Wawrinka who had beaten his compatriot Roger Federer in the previous round.
The decisive period of the match came towards the end of the third set when the Frenchman missed two opportunities on his opponent’s serve to take a 5-4 lead.
Then, from 3-3 in the tie-break, Wawrinka reeled off four points in a row to take the set before inflicting further damage at the start of the fourth when Tsonga was broken to love.
Thereafter, Wawrinka remained in charge, staving off 10 further break points to reach the second Grand Slam final of his career.
The 2014 Australian Open champion will now face either top seed Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray (seeded 3) in Sunday's final.
Wawrinka admitted afterwards: "It was a big battle, it could have gone either way. He deserved to make it to the final as much as I did.
"It went down to two or three points. He had opportunities to break me in the third set. As is usual against Jo, it's been a very tough match. It was tough but I'm happy I got through.”
The 30-year-old is a former junior champion in Paris while Tsonga, who is just 20 days younger than Wawrinka, had been hoping to become the first French finalist since Henri Leconte in 1988 and first home winner in 32 years.
