Second-ranked Rafael Nadal, seeking to prove he can win a Grand Slam on a surface other than Roland Garros' clay, instead matched his worst loss in a major as the No. 39-ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga reached the Australian Open final with a dominating 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory on Thursday.
Nadal played well against Tsonga, who has struggled with injuries and had never gone beyond the fourth round in his four previous Grand Slams. But the Frenchman was virtually untouchable, smashing 17 aces against one of the best serve returners.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France upset Spaniard Rafael Nadal in a men's semifinals at the Australian Open Thursday.
(Andrew Brownbill/Associated Press)
He faces the winner of Friday's semifinal between top-ranked Roger Federer of Switzerland and No. 3 Novak Djokovic of Serbia.
Nadal had just 12 unforced errors — four combined in the first two sets — while matching the fewest games he has won in a Grand Slam, against Andy Roddick at the 2004 U.S. Open.
"I was playing fine," Nadal said. "He played unbelievable. Congratulate him."
Tsonga had 49 winners and didn't face any break points until the third set, when he saved three in one game in Nadal's only real challenge.
"It's unbelievable, just amazing," the Frenchman said, calling it his best performance ever. "Nothing can stop me today. It's like a dream. I can't believe it's true. I was moving on the court like never I move. Everything was perfect."
Sharapova, Ivanovic reach women's final
Two days after ending top-ranked Justine Henin's 32-match winning streak in the quarterfinals, Maria Sharapova outclassed Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-1 on Thursday to advance to Saturday's women's final and a bid for her third Grand Slam singles title.
Sharapova, who lost in the final last year to Serena Williams, will play another Serbian player, Ana Ivanovic, who rallied to beat Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova 0-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours, 10 minutes.
The 20-year-old Sharapova, who hasn't dropped a set in six matches at Melbourne Park this year, won her first major at Wimbledon in 2004, then added the U.S. Open title in 2006.
She led 5-0 in the opening set before No. 3 Jankovic came back with two service breaks to pull to 5-3.
But Sharapova clinched it on her sixth set point when an attempted drop shot was ripped back across the net and past a stretching Jankovic.
"I had a bit of a letdown, I was too good for my own level," Sharapova said of her first-set lapse.
"But I'm really happy to get back in the final."
Sharapova broke Jankovic's serve to open the second set, after which the Serbian player received treatment for an apparent back strain.
Trailing 3-0, Jankovic again had treatment, laying outstretched on a towel while a physiotherapist massaged her lower back area.
Looking increasingly as if she was playing with pain, Jankovic had trouble getting to several balls and Sharapova won the match when Jankovic hit a backhand wide.
The start of the match was delayed for about 10 minutes when rain began falling in the warmup, forcing organizers to close the roof at Rod Laver Arena.
No. 4 Ana Ivanovic rallied to ensure one of the two Serbians advanced from the semifinals, despite losing the first eight games to Hantuchova.
She recovered the early break in the second set and then, after saving break points in a 10-minute game that went to deuce seven times, got another crucial break in the third.
Hantuchova dumped a routine volley into the net on break point in the ninth game of the deciding set to give Ivanovic, who had scrambled to stay in the point, a chance to serve for the match.
She won it when Hantuchova put a forehand into the net on match point.
