Nadal out after Tsonga surprise

The Australian Open has a surprise finalist for the third year in a row after Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga shocked world No.2 Rafael Nadal 6-2 6-3 6-2 in front of a delirious crowd at Rod Laver Arena on Thursday night.

Like Marcos Baghdatis and Fernando Gonzalez in 2006 and 2007, Tsonga entered the tournament as a rank outsider but has emerged as a giant-killer to advance to his first Grand Slam final.

Ranked 38th in the world, the 22-year-old from the French racing capital of Le Mans beat seeds Andy Murray (9), Richard Gasquet (8), Mikhail Youzhny (14) on his way to the semi-final before overpowering Nadal.

"It's unbelievable, three sets, its just amazing," Tsonga said. "Today I played unbelievable and nothing can stop me today. I'm just happy. It's like a dream. Every day it's like a dream. Just amazing."

He now awaits the winner of Friday night's clash between world No.1 Roger Federer and third seed Novak Djokovic.

Playing in his first Grand Slam semi-final in just his fifth major, Tsonga - who bears an uncanny resemblance to boxing great Muhammad Ali - landed the knockout blow on a shell-shocked Nadal in just under two hours.

To put his achievement in context, it took the Spaniard six Grand Slams to reach his first semi-final, while Swiss maestro Roger Federer needed 17 majors to reach the last four for the first time.

The loss was Nadal's worst in a Grand Slam since the 2004 US Open when he won just seven games in the second round against Andy Roddick.

The three-time French Open champion simply had no answers to Tsonga's power from the back of the court or his touch and finesse at the net.

The son of two teachers, Tsonga handed Nadal a lesson in precision tennis, smashing 49 winners to just 13 and winning an extraordinary 86 per cent of points on his first serve.

He made a blistering start, breaking Nadal in his opening service game before another break in the eighth game saw Tsonga wrap up the first set in just 32 minutes.

It was more of the same in the second set with Tsonga making Nadal look second-rate. He secured a further break in the eighth game before serving it out to take a two-set lead.

Nadal brought up three break points in the second game of the third set but Tsonga saved them all before levelling at 1-1.

He then broke again in the very next game to take a handy lead before putting Nadal under further pressure with another break to go ahead 5-2.

Tsonga brought up two match points with a blistering forehand winner before closing out the match on his 17th ace.