PARIS, June 5: Roger Federer will have an unexpected foe in the French Open semi-finals on Friday in the shape of unseeded Frenchman Gael Monfils.

In Wednesday’s remaining two quarter-finals, top seed Federer started tentatively but eventually found top gear to race away from Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.

The 21-year-old Monfils became the first Frenchman through to the last four since Sebastien Grosjean in 2001 when he put out the fifth seed David Ferrer of Spain 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Federer and Monfils have met three times previously and the Frenchman has yet to win a set, but the Swiss maestro is wary of him.

Friday’s other semi-final will oppose triple defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain and third seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia. They both reached the last four on Tuesday.

Federer reached a record 16th straight Grand Slam semi-final with another pounding of big-hitting Gonzalez.

Their match was scheduled out on the Suzanne Lenglen No.2 showcourt to allow home hope Monfils to top the billing on the Centre Court, and the world No 1 needed a full set to get used to his new surroundings.

True to form, Gonzalez opened up with all guns blazing, especially with his haymaker forehands, while Federer seemed oddly hesitant to take the initiative.

But starting with the fourth game of the second set which saw Gonzalez drop his serve to love, Federer won eight games out of nine to cut the legs from under the South American powerhouse.

The fourth set was a formality as Federer stepped on the accelerator and moved to within one match of a third straight French Open final against Spanish triple champion Nadal.

He needs the Paris claycourt title to complete his sweep of all four Grand Slam tournaments having won a total of 12 at Wimbledon and the US and Australian Opens. Nadal has defeated him in the last two finals.

Monfils’ run into the last four has taken everyone by surprise.

A former world junior champion, he has found the step up to the senior ranks a hard one to successfully achieve both on the physical and mental fronts.

Ranked a lowly world No 59, his form was so poor in the run-up to the French Open that he was forced to play a second-tier Challenger in Morocco.

Monfils had never got beyond the fourth round of any Grand Slam before this year, but his win on Wednesday has now ignited hopes of a homegrown men’s title, 25 years after Yannick Noah’s emotional triumph.

Against Ferrer he opened impressively to take the first set, but then appeared to be on his last legs as the gritty Ferrer battled back to level the scores,

Unexpectedly it was the Spaniard who wilted in the two following sets as the Parisian-born player joyfully marched into his first Grand Slam semi-final.

Results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Men’s singles:Quarter-finals: 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) bt 24-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4; Gael Monfils (France) bt 5-David Ferrer (Spain) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Mixed doubles:

Quarter-finals: 3-Victoria Azarenka/Bob Bryan (Belarus/US) bt Liezel Huber/Jamie Murray (US/Britain) 6-0, 7-6(5); 1-Katarina Srebotnik/Nenad Zimonjic (Slovenia/Serbia) bt Kateryna Bondarenko/Jordan Kerr (Ukraine/Australia) 6-3, 6-3.—Reuters