Wawrinka Defeats Tsonga to Reach Roland Garros Final

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Wawrinka Defeats Tsonga to Reach Roland Garros Final

By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, June 5, 2015

<div style="position:relative;top:-70px;height:500px;"> <div style="position:relative;top:444px; left:2px;margin: 0px 15px 15px; width: 610px; height: 79px; background:#000000;opacity:0.75;">  </div> <div style="text-align: center;"> <img alt="Stan Wawrinka" src="http://www.tennisnow.com/images/2015/June-2015/Stanfist.aspx" style="margin: 0px 15px 15px; width: 610px; height: 429px;" /></div> <div style="width:600px;height:10px;"> Stan Wawrinka defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-3, 6-7 (1), 7-6 (3), 6-4, surging into his first French Open final. Photo credit: Philippe Montigny/FFT   </div> </div>

French fans erupted in a "Tsonga! Tsonga!" chant washing a wave of sound across Court Philippe Chatrier trying to rouse the home hope to comeback. <a href="http://www.tennisexpress.com/category.cfm/tennis/stanislas-wawrinka" target="_blank">Stan Wawrinka </a>heard the sound and answered with baseline fury. Amping up the volume on his baseline blasts, Wawrinka muted <a href="http://www.tennisexpress.com/category.cfm/tennis/jo-wilfried-tsonga-tennis-pro" target="_blank">Jo-Wilfried Tsonga</a>'s power and quieted the crowd in the process. Playing with buzz-kill brilliance on break points, Wawrinka dismantled Tsonga, 6-3, 6-7 (1), 7-6 (3), 6-4, to advance to his first French Open final. <a href="http://tennisnow.com/Blogs/NET-POSTS/June-2015/Video-Tsonga-Wows-with-One-Handed-Gem-in-Paris.aspx" target="_blank">Video: </a><a href="http://tennisnow.com/Blogs/NET-POSTS/June-2015/Video-Tsonga-Wows-with-One-Handed-Gem-in-Paris.aspx" target="_blank">Tsonga Wows with One-Handed Gem</a> Wawrinka cranked 15 aces and denied 16 of the 17 break points he faced reaching his first Grand Slam final since he surprised Rafael Nadal to win the 2014 Australian Open championship. At the age of 30, Wawrinka is crafting revival on the red clay a year after he littered 62 unforced errors suffering a demoralizing French Open first-round exit. What a difference a year makes. Wawrinka ripped 60 winners—21 more than his powerful opponent—and will face either world No. 1 Novak Djokovic or third-seeded Andy Murray in Sunday's final. On the hottest day of the tournament, the sturdy Swiss wrapped an ice towel around his neck during changeovers and played cool, stress-free tennis for much of the match. Wawrinka saved three break points in the opening game then proceeded to torch Tsonga's weaker backhand wing to elicit mid-court replies he extinguished. Imposing his immense advantage in backhand exchanges, Wawrinka often used his one-hander to corner Tsonga on the backhand side then finished firing drives down the line. A backhand strike down the line gave Wawrinka the first break and a 3-1 lead. He saved another break point in the seventh game before closing the set in 35 minutes. <img alt="Stan Wawrinka" src="http://www.tennisnow.com/images/2015/June-2015/Stanbh-6-5-15.aspx" style="margin: 0px 15px 15px; width: 610px; height: 429px;" /> Looking a little leg weary after his five-set triumph over fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals, Tsonga double faulted to face break point and compounded that error slapping a flat forehand into the middle of the net to donate the break and a 1-0 second-set lead. Wawrinka made that break stand until producing his sloppiest game of the match, donating the break back for 4-4. Wawrinka put Tsonga's serve under fire at 5-5, earning five break points. Tsonga withstood them all and carried that momentum into the tie break. Playing with control, Tsonga drew errors for the early mini-breaks and when the Swiss sailed a shot beyond the baseline, Tsonga had a commanding 6-0 lead. Two points later, the 2013 semifinalist blasted a massive serve down the middle hijacking the second set that seemed to be in Wawrinka's pocket. Both of their prior Roland Garros matches had gone the distance, but Wawrinka was in no mood for five-set festivities today. The man who muffled French hopes beating Tsonga on red clay to help Switzerland clinch its first Davis Cup championship in Lille last November, muted the home side again There were three primary problems Tsonga couldn't solve today: 1. Wawrinka tormented the Frenchman's backhand on pivotal points; Tsonga looked a half-step slow stepping around to hit his forehand. 2. The Swiss played even bolder tennis when facing break point. 3. Every time Tsonga got even, Wawrinka got even better. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"> "I'm disappointed...I wish I could have won the match. I gave my best so I don't have any regrets" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tsonga?src=hash">#Tsonga</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RG15?src=hash">#RG15</a> <a href="http://t.co/dEdMIzoFqK">pic.twitter.com/dEdMIzoFqK</a> — Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) <a href="https://twitter.com/rolandgarros/status/606858403475005441">June 5, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Deadlocked at 4-4, Wawrinka denied two break points, saving the second with a 132 mph serve out wide to set up a thumping forehand. Wawrinka worked through that tense test, holding for a 5-4 third-set lead. Seventy minutes of play in the third set left the terre battue dry and playing faster than it was at the start of the set. Wawrinka used the court speed and his aggression to take charge of the of the tie break. He cranked a forehand winner then cracked a backhand crosscourt for 5-3. Poor shot selection and his inferior backhand cost Tsonga, who steered a backhand pass wide to face triple set point. Bailing out of the pressure, Tsonga tried a tame forehand drop shot to bring his opponent forward. It fooled no one. Wawrinka hit a fine stab forehand volley, Tsonga's one-handed backhand pass sailed wide and the Swiss snatched a two set to one lead. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"> All signs point to the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RG15?src=hash">#RG15</a> final for <a href="https://twitter.com/stanwawrinka">@stanwawrinka</a>! Watch match point. <a href="https://t.co/u5t6juvNSe">https://t.co/u5t6juvNSe</a> — Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) <a href="https://twitter.com/rolandgarros/status/606845269418778624">June 5, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Haunted by tie break fragility, Tsonga dumped a double fault to drop serve at love in the opening game of the fourth set. Wawrinka staved off a pair of break points, backing up the break for 2-0 with a couple of massive serves. Tsonga blinked his eyes in an effort to clear the red dust looking like a man trying to block out a bad vision as Wawrinka earned match point. When the Frenchman slapped a final forehand into net, Wawrinka wrapped up an impressive three hour, 46-minute triumph to advance to his first final. The 2003 Roland Garros boys' champion is bidding to become the first junior champion to raise the Coupe des Mousquetaires since Mats Wilander in 1988. It wasn't an extensive victory celebration. Wawrinka pointed an index finger to his temple after playing with the clarity of a man with more success on his mind.