Stan Wawrinka won’t be Mr. Popular in France. At least not on Friday.
Wawrinka reached a second grand slam final and once again broke French hearts by defeating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3 6-7 (1/7) 7-6 (7/3) 6-4 in blistering heat at Roland Garros.
It was the same Wawrinka who crushed Tsonga in the Davis Cup final in Lille, France last November and turned out to be the star man for the Swiss — not Roger Federer for a change — as they won a maiden title in tennis’ most prestigious team competition.
Wawrinka will forever rest in Federer’s shadow when it comes to Swiss tennis but the eighth seed has no doubt made a name for himself, too, after winning last year’s Australian Open and now landing in the French Open final. Winning in Melbourne was no fluke.
“It was hot today and conditions were totally different from the start of the tournament,” Wawrinka told the crowd in an on-court interview. “I’m really happy to get through because it was a big battle.”
The ever charismatic Tsonga failed in his bid to become the first Frenchman to make the final since Henri Leconte in 1988. He was also upended in the semis two years ago by David Ferrer.
When the dust settles and Tsonga embarks on the grass-court swing, he’ll likely consider the fortnight a success since he has missed most of this season with an arm injury. Yet his victories over Tomas Berdych and Kei Nishikori — two top-10 players who have been consistent performers in 2015 — must have raised the hopes of a tennis loving nation desperate for a home champion.
Although Wawrinka played the crucial points well, Tsonga will be ruing all the break points he missed: The 14th seed went 1-for-17, including 0-for-6 in the pivotal third set.
Whoever lost that third set faced an uphill climb — having to win the fourth and fifth sets in a bruising contest and in the sizzling conditions. Temperatures reached about 35 degrees Celsius.
Unusual for a tennis match, chair umpire Carlos Ramos allowed both players to go to their chairs for a drink after the fourth game of the third set, which wasn’t a changeover.
Even though Wawrinka’s foe in Sunday’s final is part of the “Big Four,” counting him out against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray would be off the mark.
The last four grand slam matches between Djokovic and Wawrinka have gone to five sets, while Wawrinka has won two straight over Murray and all three of their clay-court duels.
Meanwhile women’s No. 1 Serena Williams is facing a race against time to be fit for Saturday’s women’s final against Lucie Safarova.
In a question-and-answer session released by organizers, the American said she “collapsed” after her three-set win over Wawrinka’s fellow Swiss Timea Bacsinszky and “couldn’t move.”
Her troubles, she added, began in the “third or fourth” round.
Williams didn’t practice Friday and her pre-final briefing with reporters was canceled.
“I felt really terrible during the semis against Timea,” said Williams. “I’m actually not sure how I got through the match and when it was over I just kind of collapsed. I couldn’t move.
“I saw the tournament director on site and since I came home I’ve been resting,” Williams, who owns an apartment in the French capital, continued. “I think I have some kind of flu which makes it tough, because it’s just a matter of resting and keeping hydrated — there’s not much I can do.
“I need time and obviously don’t have a lot but it helps that I can be at my apartment and have my friends and family with me.”
Safarova remains on course for a double after combining with Bethanie Mattek-Sands to win their doubles semifinal. The third seeds edged ninth-seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 6-2 5-7 6-4.
Williams leads Safarova in their head-to-head series 8-0.
“It’s very upsetting that I feel so lousy right now,” said Williams. “I just have to hope that tomorrow I will be feeling a lot better and able to give my best on court.”