Paris: Stan Wawrinka shattered French hopes&nbsp;of a first men's singles champion in 32 years today when he&nbsp;outlasted Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-7 (1/7), 7-6 (7/3) 6-4 in&nbsp;the first of the semi-finals.
It was a consummate performance from the Swiss stylist&nbsp;and he will harbour high hopes of taking a second Grand Slam&nbsp;title on Sunday.
The 2014 Australian Open winner reached the final in&nbsp;Paris for the first time having lost just two sets along the&nbsp;way.
For Tsonga, the dream of emulating Yannick Noah, the last&nbsp;Frenchman to win at Roland Garros in 1983, was over for&nbsp;another year. The last Frenchman to reach the final was Henri&nbsp;Leconte in 1988.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2015/jun/stan-FO.jpg" alt="Stanislas Wawrinka" />Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka celebrates after winning his men's semi-final match&nbsp;against France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the 2015 French Open at the Roland Garros&nbsp;in Paris on Friday. Pic/AFP
"It was a huge battle, very difficult physically, a lot&nbsp;of intensity on both sides and it could have gone either way,"&nbsp;Wawrinka said.
"He had chances to break me in the third set, but he had&nbsp;a great tournament and deserves just as much as me to be in&nbsp;the final."
The semi-finalists, both aged 30, had met twice before at&nbsp;Roland Garros, each winning in five sets, but their most&nbsp;recent encounter was a superb four sets Davis Cup final win&nbsp;for Wawrinka in November.
That sent Tsonga's form into a tailspin made all the&nbsp;worse by a bad wrist injury that sidelined him until March.&nbsp;But Roland Garros saw him back to near his best,&nbsp;defeating fourth seed Tomas Berdych and fifth seed Kei&nbsp;Nishikori to reach the semis for the second time.&nbsp;
Wawrinka, a straight-sets winner over countryman Roger&nbsp;Federer in the quarter-finals, struck first, clawing his way&nbsp;back from 0-40 down to break Tsonga's serve for a first time&nbsp;in the fourth game.
That was enough to give him the first set on a baking hot&nbsp;day which saw the temperature nudging above 30 degrees.
The Swiss eighth seed was clearly on top and he broke&nbsp;again to start the second set.
Wawrinka's first serve was regularly in the 210-215 kph&nbsp;range and that, coupled with the fast, bouncy conditions, left&nbsp;Tsonga struggling to cope.
But the Frenchman was finally given a look in when&nbsp;Wawrinka twice double-faulted in the eighth game and he took&nbsp;full advantage to level the set scores when Wawrinka shanked a&nbsp;forehand wide.
The Swiss player failed to convert five break points in a&nbsp;marathon 11th game and he paid a full price in the ensuing&nbsp;tie-break which Tsonga dominated to win 7-1.&nbsp;
The roles were reversed in a bruising third set with&nbsp;Tsonga comfortably holding serve and Wawrinka needing to stave&nbsp;off a succession of break points.&nbsp;But this time it was the Swiss who handled the tie-break better, taking four points in a row from 3-3 to go two sets to one up.
That proved to be a hammer blow for Tsonga who&nbsp;immediately dropped his serve to open the fourth set.
Tsonga adopted the drop shot as his weapon of choice to&nbsp;get back on serve, but he failed to convert two more break&nbsp;points as Wawrinka moved 2-0 up.&nbsp;
Both men were looking leg-weary as the semi-final nudged&nbsp;up to three and a half hours in hot and humid conditions and&nbsp;Wawrinka failed to take a succession of break points that&nbsp;would have put him 5-2 up.
In the end though he did not need the extra break as&nbsp;back-to-back service holds saw him through to the championship&nbsp;match for the first time in what is his 11th campaign at&nbsp;Roland Garros.&nbsp;

Stan Wawrinka shattered French hopes&nbsp;of a first men's singles champion in 32 years today when he&nbsp;outlasted Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-7 (1/7), 7-6 (7/3) 6-4 in&nbsp;the first of the semi-finals

French Open: Wawrinka sinks French hopes at Roland Garros

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French Open: Wawrinka sinks French hopes at Roland Garros

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