Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Unseeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga upset No. 2 Rafael Nadal to reach the Australian Open final, as Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic advanced to the women's title match.

Tsonga, ranked 38th, dispatched his fourth top-15 player at Melbourne Park with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory. Sharapova beat Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-1, and Ivanovic lost the first eight games before defeating Daniela Hantuchova 0-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The 22-year-old Tsonga, playing in his fifth tennis Grand Slam, mixed drop shots, volleys and aces to outplay the three- time French Open winner. Seeking to become the second unseeded men's champion in the professional era, Tsonga will face the winner of tomorrow's semifinal between top-ranked Roger Federer and No. 3 Novak Djokovic in the Jan. 27 final.

``I played unbelievable,'' Tsonga said in a courtside interview to a standing ovation at Rod Laver Arena. ``Nothing could stop me. It's like a dream.''

The Frenchman, who missed much of 2005 and 2006 because of injuries, continued a campaign marked by stylish volleying and athletic play as he won 30 out of 40 points at the net and banged down 17 aces. Nadal matched his worst performance in a Grand Slam by winning just seven games.

``I have to accept he played unbelievable,'' Nadal told reporters. ``I was playing fine.''

Tsonga surged into a 3-0 lead then broke for the second time with a forehand winner as Nadal lost a set for the first time at the tournament.

Nadal, 21, failed to force a break point in the first two sets and Tsonga spun to retrieve a backhand volley that crept over the net to earn a break chance at 4-3. Another volley sealed the break and he struck three straight aces and a service winner to complete the second set.

`Utterly Frightening'

Tsonga lost his temper with the umpire in game two of the third set as Nadal secured his first break points. Tsonga fired a 127 mile-per-hour ace to end the threat before breaking Nadal for the fourth and fifth times to lead 5-2. He completed the victory with an ace after one hour, 57 minutes.

``I'm not sure we've seen tennis like this before,'' former Australian and French Open champion Jim Courier said on Channel 7. ``This is utterly frightening.''

Tsonga becomes the fifth unseeded player in 12 years to reach the men's final in Melbourne, following on from Marcos Baghdatis in 2006. All four lost, and Mark Edmonson, in 1976, remains the only unseeded player to win the men's singles since the sport admitted professionals in 1968.

Upsets

Tsonga, nicknamed Muhammad Ali by his fellow professionals, already beat No. 9 Andy Murray, eighth-seeded Richard Gasquet and 14th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny.

Nadal missed a chance to continue his rivalry with Federer in major finals after beating him in the past two French Opens and losing at Wimbledon in 2006 and 2007.

Sharapova, the runner-up to Serena Williams last year, fired 22 more winners than third-seeded Jankovic to reach her second consecutive Australian Open final, as No. 4 Ivanovic advanced to her first.

Fifth-seeded Sharapova has yet to drop a set in 2008 at Melbourne Park. The Russian failed to win a major title in 2007, when she struggled with a shoulder injury, and is aiming to add to her 2004 Wimbledon and 2006 U.S. Open crowns.

``You want to go a step further than you've done in the past,'' Sharapova, 20, told reporters. ``That's always your goal, and your mantra going into a tournament.''

Injuries

Sharapova raced ahead 5-0, extending her win streak at Rod Laver Arena to 12 games after routing No. 1 Justine Henin 6-4, 6-0 in the quarterfinals. Jankovic won the next three games, saving five set points, before Sharapova clinched the set.

Serbia's Jankovic, who has complained of injuries in Melbourne, lost her opening service game in the second set before taking a timeout for a lower back problem.

Sharapova -- the top-earning female athlete -- used the time for serving practice and won five of the next six games to complete the victory. Jankovic, who was in tears at one stage, said she only played on to appease fans.

``I wanted to withdraw, but it's not fair for the crowd,'' the 22-year-old Jankovic told reporters.

Sharapova is tied 2-2 in career head-to-head with Ivanovic, who dropped her first set of the tournament against Hantuchova. She trailed 6-0, 2-0 before staging a comeback against the Slovak, who was playing her first opponent ranked in the top 25.

``I tried to stay calm as much as I could,'' Ivanovic, 20, said in a courtside interview. ``I'm so happy I managed to fight through this match.''

`More Luck'

Ivanovic, a French Open finalist last year, won three straight games to go up 3-2 in the second set and broke for 5-3. A weak volley from Hantuchova and deft drop shot by Ivanovic took the match into a deciding set.

Ivanovic held her service after a 10-minute struggle to tie the third set at 3-3 and got the decisive break when Hantuchova put a volley into the net.

``Sometimes you can do all the right things, all the best things,'' said No. 9 Hantuchova. ``Maybe you just need a little more luck to get through.''

Hmm I hope it's a Djokovic Tonga final.

Me too

And if it is, who do you want to win?

Sorry for the late response. I was away and had no Internet Access. I wanted Djokovic to win it. I watched the Djokovic Fedderer game on Friday night and was impressed by Novak beating the world number one in straight sets.

I was also impressed with Tsonga as well. Being unseeded and landing in the final reminded me of Marcos two years ago. When I was watching the game last night my heart was set on Djokovic winning it for Serbia. Mainly because Serbia is a small country. Even if Tsonga had won it I would have been happy if he had.

God that Tsonga fag, I hate him so much. He reminds me of all the African/"French" football players with that fucking arrogance and wank. What a douchebag, so happy he lost

Isn't he half African half French?

i believe he is one eighth gorilla, too

Yes - his father is African and his mother is French.

Was a good game, right?

His dads from Congo.

Great game. I was impressed with both players. Though at one stage I missed an incident with Djoko's family. I didnt know what happened but whatever it was it fired him up.