David Ferrer breezed past home favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to set up an all-Spanish men's final in the French Open tomorrow.
Tsonga had high hopes of reaching the final as he powered his way through the draw in Paris, including defeating Roger Federer in straight sets on his way to the semi-finals.
However, the Frenchman found No 4 seed Ferrer much too powerful and he went down without much of a fight in straight sets 6-1, 7-6, 6-2.
It was all one-way traffic in the first set as Ferrer rapidly opened up a 5-0 lead, breaking Tsonga twice, before his opponent got on the board.
And the crowd was almost silent when he wrapped up the opener two games later.
The second was a much tighter affair as Tsonga started to find his rhythm. He broke for a 3-0 lead but was pegged back to 3-3 shortly afterwards.
The pair then traded breaks as Tsonga and the partisan crowd became more vocal, but Ferrer ran away with the tie-break 7-3 to gain a two-set lead.
Ferrer looked to be nearly home and dry when he opened up a 4-1 lead in the third before Tsonga put up a final show of resistance.
But it was too little too late as the damage had already been done and Ferrer cantered to victory and a place in his first grand slam final.
Ferrer dominated but Tsonga was given a standing ovation as he left the court.
A similar reception was in store for Ferrer when he followed him off a few minutes later. Now a bigger stage awaits tomorrow.
* The National staff
