The four-time Auckland Open tennis champion David Ferrer reached his very first Grand Slam final and ruined French hopes of a home champion to set up an all-Spanish decider against Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros.
It's Ferrer's 42nd tilt at a major and his first semi-final win at one of the big four tournaments in five attempts.
The fourth seed Ferrer, who beat France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1 7-6 6-2 on Court Philippe Chatrier, avoided emulating Briton Tim Henman's six grand slam semis without making the final, managing to stay composed despite having to wait until the end of Nadal's match against Novak Djokovic, which lasted four hours 37 minutes.
Since tennis turned professional in 1968, the previous longest wait for a player who eventually reached a grand slam final was Kim Warwick's 32 majors after he fought his way into the Australian Open title match in 1980
Ferrer will find it hard, though, to go a step further, as he has lost his last 16 meetings on clay against Nadal.
