It took Pioline five sets and three hours 42 minutes to see off his Moroccan adversary Hicham Arazi, winning the match 3-6 6-2 7-6 4-6 6-3.

Roared on by 16,000 fans, he became the first Frenchman to reach the semi-finals at Roland Garros since Henri Leconte in 1992.

The world number 17, who was the men's singles runner-up at last year's Wimbledon championships, will face 14th seed Alex Corretja, of Spain, for a place in Sunday's final.

Cool customer: Alex Corretja after winning his quarter-final

Corretja demolished Belgian Filip Dewulf 7-5 6-4 6-3 earlier on Wednesday. The other semi-final will see Corretja's two compatriots, Felix Mantilla, seeded 15, pitted against Carlos Moya, seeded 12.

Pioline paid tribute to the home crowd who saw him through his nail-biting victory.

"They were marvellous. They really helped me," said the Frenchman, who is 29 in two weeks.

"I don't know what to say except that they really helped me win today."

Pioline, who's previous best performance in the French open was to reach the quarter-finals two weeks ago, will be aiming for his third Grand Slam final.

By contrast, Barcelona-based Corretja showed little emotion after his win, saying simply: "I'm taking things match by match and I don't care about my opponents - I just focus on my game."

The results at this year's tournament were a big boost to Spanish tennis, he said.