5 Jun 2013

Tsonga stuns Federer to reach semis in Paris

6:42 pm on 5 June 2013

The local hope Jo-Wilfried Tsonga sent Roger Federer crashing out of the French Open tennis quarter-finals on Wednesday morning, moving a step closer to ending France's 30-year wait for a men's champion at Roland Garros.

Sixth-seed Tsonga toppled the Swiss legend 7-5 6-3 6-3 to reach his first semi-final in Paris, and he'll take on the Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer for a place in the final.

Tsonga had reached the quarter-finals without dropping a set, while 31-year-old Federer had struggled in his fourth round win over Gilles Simon where he had to come back from two sets to one down.

The match lasted less than two hours, during which Federer committed 34 unforced errors.

Spaniard Ferrer was rock solid in reaching the semi-finals for the second straight year, conceding just four games to his countryman Tommy Robredo.

Serena Williams, the hot favourite for the women's title, survived a mid-match implosion against Svetlana Kuznetsova to win in three sets and set up a semi-final against the Italian Sara Errani.