Tsonga and Llodra made easy work of Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco, converting a break point on their very first chance and never looking back to secure a 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 victory in 1 hour, 39 minutes at Cordoba's bullring.

While Spain was on the receiving end of a drubbing Saturday, the four-time champion can still clinch its place in the final on Sunday when Rafael Nadal is scheduled to face Gilles Simon in reverse singles on the outdoor clay.

Argentina led Serbia 2-0 after Friday's singles in the other semifinal.

France captain Guy Forget may opt to play Tsonga against Nadal since teams can make a change up to one hour before matches. Tsonga is the only French player with repeated wins over Nadal having won twice in seven matchups, although the pair has never met on clay.

Nadal hasn't lost a singles Davis Cup rubber since losing on his debut in 2004, racking up a 17-1 record that includes 13-0 on clay. The six-time French Open champion has lost only five of his last 100 matches on clay.

While France was routed in singles on Friday, a refreshed Tsonga provided the perfect compliment to French doubles specialist Llodra as they overwhelmed the hosts.

Both Lopez and Verdasco struggled with their serve throughout and the French shrugged off the 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) temperatures for seven break points with none for Spain.

The Spaniards hit just 19 winners to the visitors' 41, and the 10th-ranked Tsonga closed out the rout as he fired down the pair's ninth ace of the day.

In the other reverse singles match scheduled for Sunday, David Ferrer is scheduled to play Richard Gasquet.

In Belgrade, Serbia kept alive their hopes of retaining the Davis Cup when Nenad Zimonjic and Viktor Troicki beat Juan Monaco and Juan Ignacio Chela 7-6 6-4 6-2 on Saturday to leave them trailing 2-1 going into Sunday's singles.

The hosts will now be hoping world No.1 Novak Djokovic, who did not play in Friday's singles, can inspire a remarkable turnaround in the semi-final in the noisy Belgrade Arena which staged Serbia's triumph against France last year.

Djokovic, who claimed the US Open title on Monday, pulled out of his opening match against David Nalbandian with lower back and rib pain but is expected to be fit for Sunday's opening clash with Juan Martin Del Potro.

Games went with serve without a break point in a tight first set on Saturday, before a pair of volleys from Troicki settled the tiebreak and put the Serbs ahead.

Zimonjic and Troicki broke in the seventh game of the third set and sealed victory in two hours and nine minutes.