Jo-Wilfried Tsonga steamrolled 17-time grand slam champion Roger Federer in straight sets to keep alive hopes of becoming the first French winner at Roland Garros in 30 years.

Yannick Noah remains the last Frenchman to win the title in 1983 and Tsonga produced a performance fitting of his illustrious countryman as he swatted aside Federer 7-5 6-3 6-3 in less than two hours on Philippe Chatrier.

While victory represents the first time Tsonga has reached the semi-final at his home grand slam, Federer has suffered a straight sets defeat in a slam for just the third time since he was emphatically beaten by Rafael Nadal in 2008 while he has now won just one of the last 13 major title available.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Tsonga dominated Federer to book a place in his first French Open semi-final.

"It's extraordinary to be here and to have won," said Tsonga.

"I never dreamt of this moment. Today was my moment against a champion who has won everything.

"I didn't think I would get this far without losing a set. But Ferrer has not lost a set as well, he's in great form."

Federer said: "I thought he played pretty great today. In all areas he was better than me and that's why he won. Give some credit to old Jo-Willy. He can take the ball early. His game is dangerous throughout"

Even in illustrious company, Tsonga was anything but shaken in the early stages, recovering from an early break down to level the first set, securing at least a tie-break with another dominant service game. Federer's attempts to serve to stay in the set were in vain however, the home favourite securing the second of two set points.

The atmosphere around centre court was in stark contrast to that which had accompanied Giles Simon over the weekend, with support for Tsonga outweighing that of the former world No.1.

And Tsonga remained on a crest of a wave early in the second set, earning a break as he surged into a 3-0 lead. Federer's opportunites were few and far between, Tsonga snuffing out chances on his own surf before reacting to the Swiss' aggressive tactics with hitting of the highest order.

In less than 90 minutes Tsonga had a two set lead, and after breaking Federer in the first game of the third, a semi-final place looked as good as secure.

Federer did break-back immediate however, before the seventh game saw more Tsonga excellence, as he slammed a break chance into the frame of his opponent, to secure a 4-3 lead.

Despite the pressure on his shoulders, the nature of Tsonga's performance suggested he wasn't about to flounder, breaking Federer once again in the final game to set up a meeting with David Ferrer, who dispatched fellow-countryman Tommy Robredo, both of whom are yet to drop a set on their way to the last four.