Ferrer Ends French Hopes in Paris

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Ferrer Ends French Hopes in Paris

By Chris Oddo

(June 7, 2013) -- David Ferrer breezed past a desultory Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 7-6(3), 6-2 to reach his first career Grand Slam final at Roland Garros today.

With the victory, the 31-year-old Spaniard becomes the third-oldest Grand Slam finalist in the Open Era. “It's a dream,” he said. “This tournament is very special for me, it's the most important of my life and I am very happy.”

Ferrer became the seventh man in the Open Era to reach the Roland Garros final without dropping a set, striking 24 winners and breaking the Frenchman's serve six times on seventeen opportunities.

The Spaniard also improved his current winning streak against top 10 opposition to six matches with the victory.

Tsonga, who was bidding to become the first Frenchman to reach the Roland Garros final in 25 years, put forth a nervy, flat performance. He hit 56 unforced errors against 31 winners and fell behind in the first set 5-0 before getting on the board.

After pushing the second set to a tiebreaker, Tsonga dropped the first three points and never threatened, failing to provide the anxious partisan crowd at Court Philippe Chatrier a chance to factor in the match.

Ferrer will face Rafael Nadal in Sunday morning's final. He suffered a 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 defeat at the hands of his compatriot in the French Open semifinals last year, and owns a 4-19 career record against Nadal.

Ferrer has lost eight in a row to the seven-time Roland Garros champion but he has won a set in each of their last two clay-court matches, held in Madrid and Rome earlier this year.

(Photo Credit: AP)