Gael Monfils upsets Ferrer to make French Open semifinals

PARIS -- The complete set of French Open semifinalists became known today just as the lanky Gael Monfils ripped off his shirt and flung it into the Roland Garros audience, having just become the first French male semifinalist since Sebastian Grosjean in 2001.

As the lone remaining unseeded player, and ranked No. 59, Monfils didn't figure to find himself smashing winners in a quarterfinal against David Ferrer of Spain, the No. 5 player in the world. But Monfils' 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory delighted the audience and cemented the surprise here, given that the 6-foot-4, Paris-born 21-year-old arrived here having won only five top-level matches in seven tournaments all year.

Next, he joins the world's ironclad top three players as the interloper, and he'll face No. 1 Roger Federer on Friday in a semifinal. No. 2 Rafael Nadal and No. 3 Novak Djokovic will play the other semifinal. Monfils also highlights an exhilarating French Open for French men, who sent five players to the round of 16 and now Monfils to the semifinals despite lacking their top-ranked player, Richard Gasquet, and the Australian Open finalist, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, both of whom missed the tournament with injuries.

The women's semifinals Thursday also will major in reliable highly seeded players and will pit two Russians against each other in one match and two Serbians in the other. The Nos. 2, 3 and 4 players in the world all lasted this long, and No. 2 Ana Ivanovic and No. 3 Jelena Jankovic will play each other in the Serbian semifinal, while No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova will play No. 13 seed and 14th-ranked Dinara Safina in the Russian semifinal.

Any of the four women could win the tournament, and the winner will take her first French Open crown, while the men have an overwhelming favorite in Nadal, the three-times defending champion who is 26-0 at Roland Garros, lifetime.