Ferrero has reached his fourth straight French Open semi-final Photos from Roland Garros

The third seed came through 6-1 3-6 6-1 5-7 6-4 and will relish the chance of gaining revenge on Costa, who unexpectedly beat him in last year's final.

"It was a really tough match," said Ferrero who embraced his opponent at the end of the match.

"He played superbly and showed all his qualities. And the fans were phenomenal throughout."

I was so emotional, I paid for being nervous Juan Carlos Ferrero

Ferrero's Roland Garros record is phenomenal - he has reached at least the semi-final in each of his four visits - but he was nowhere near his best against Gonzalez.

Ferrero broke Gonzalez twice in the first set to take the early lead, but the Chilean found the range with his blistering forehand to level at one set all.

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The third set followed the same pattern as the first, but Gonzalez hit back once more as Ferrero struggled to produce his best form.

But Gonzalez himself was suffering from blisters, and was unable to show the consistency to take advantage of Ferrero's problems.

Game-by-game: Ferrero v Gonzalez

Gonzalez fought back from a break down once, but Ferrero broke again to lead 4-3.

The Chilean saved five match points as Ferrero served for the match, but the Spaniard held his nerve to take his place in the last four.

"I was so emotional, I paid for being nervous," said Ferrero.

"I wasn't playing so good but I fought a lot until the end of the match. It was my sister's birthday today and I wanted to win. All these things helped me.

"The last two times I played against him I lost. He hits the ball so hard and I can't control it because it has a lot of acceleration.

"I've learned that when the difficult moments come I have to calm down. Mentally today I wasn't so good," added Ferrero.