Rain stops second semifinal

Stanislas Wawrinka will meet Novak Djokovic in the French Open final at Roland Garros on Sunday. Wawrinka overcame Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first match in four sets 6-3, 6-7 (1-7), 7-6 (7-3) 6-4. After bad light and approaching rain suspended the second semifinal after three sets until Saturday, Novak Djokovic sealed a five-set win over Andy Murray 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 6-1.

Eighth-seeded Swiss Wawrinka broke Tsonga in the fourth game of the first set after saving three break points in the opening game, and served out to seal it. Home favorite Tsonga won the second set 7-6 to level the set score. The fans on the Philippe-Chatrier Court broke out into loud chants of "Tsonga, Tsonga" after the Frenchman broke back in the set and held to love to lead 5-4, before sealing the set.

With temparatures of 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit) rising even higher than those seen on Thursday, Tsonga took to laying across his fridge in an attempt to cool himself down. The 30-year old's attempts came to no avail, as Wawrinka edged a tight third set 7-6 in a tie-break.

Both men were looking drained as the match nudged toward three and a half hours in hot and humid conditions and Wawrinka failed to take consecutive break points that would have put him 5-2 up. He was not to be denied though, as back-to-back service holds saw him through to the final at Roland Garros for the first time in his career.

"It was a huge battle, very difficult physically, a lot of intensity on both sides and it could have gone either way," Wawrinka said on court after the game. "He had chances to break me in the third set, but he had a great tournament and deserves just as much as me to be in the final."

Djokovic defeats Murray

In the first meeting between number one seed Novak Djokovic and two-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray at Roland Garros, rain and bad light suspended the match until Saturday after four sets of play. The unhappy French crowd booed as Murray and Djokovic left the Philippe-Chartier Court. Before the end of play, it had been a superb semifinal.

With this being the only Grand Slam title missing from Djokovic's trophy cabinet, he began sharply and with intent. The Serb broke Murray to lead 5-3 and then clinched the set 6-3 with an ace. Djokovic looked to be heading to the weekend's final without trouble as he took a two-set lead winning 6-3 again in the second set. Murray had yet to force a break point in the match but his obvious frustration turned to determination as he faced defeat.

Murray let his first break points slip in the third set, but did not make the same mistake with the score at 5-5. The number three seed served out the set and held his nerve in the fourth set facing break points against him to leave the match at 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 3-3 before play was suspended.

Play resumed on Saturday at 12:00 (UTC) before the women's singles final between Serena Williams and Lucie Safarova. With the score at 3-3, Murray was able to break Djokovic and take the match to a deciding fifth set. His comeback couldn't be complete, though, as Djokovic stormed to take the final set losing just one game.

Djokovic will face Stanislas Wawrinka in the final on Sunday.

apc/sgb (dpa, AP)