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And then there were two.
After a women’s tournament blown wide open by the absences of big names like Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova and the early departures of Angelique Kerber and Garbine Muguruza, the title is set to be decided in the most unlikeliest of Grand Slam finals.
In one corner is Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, whose dream run at Roland Garros has culminated in her becoming the youngest Grand Slam finalist since Caroline Wozniacki at the 2009 US Open and the youngest French Open finalist since Ana Ivanovic a decade ago.
In the other corner is third seed Simona Halep, who has history at her mercy. By winning her maiden Grand Slam title, the 25-year-old can also ascend to the world number-one ranking for the first time.
With Serena Williams inadvertently announcing her pregnancy via Snapchat in April and Maria Sharapova being denied a wildcard despite completing a 15-month doping suspension, Halep emerged as one of the favourites to lift the title at Roland Garros.
The Romanian proved to be the form player of the clay court season, reaching the semi-finals at Stuttgart, retaining her title in Madrid and reaching the final in Rome, where she lost to Elina Svitolina.
An ankle injury suffered at the latter tournament left her French Open hopes in doubt, but she recovered in time to take her place in the draw.
The 2014 finalist won each of her first four matches in straight sets before appearing to fall into a deep hole against Svitolina in the quarter-finals.
The third seed dropped the opening set 3-6 and trailed 1-5 in the second before seemingly emerging from nowhere to force a tiebreak.
She saved a match point with a backhand winner before eventually taking the set and then completely wiping the floor with her opponent in the decider to win it 6-0, completing one of the most miraculous comebacks in recent French Open history.
Halep then defeated Karolina Pliskova in three sets in the semi-finals to ensure her return to the French Open final, where she will start as the unbackable favourite to finally land her maiden Grand Slam title.
Back in 2014 the Romanian started as the underdog against Maria Sharapova but took it right up to the Russian, taking the second set in a tiebreak before eventually falling agonisingly short.
(Image: Carine06 / Flickr)
Standing in her way is unheralded Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, whose run to the final included the scalps of 2010 finalist Samantha Stosur and former world number one Caroline Wozniacki.
The recently turned 20-year-old started her run with a comeback victory over Louisa Chirico in the opening round, and she then caused an upset by defeating Olympic gold medallist Monica Puig in straight sets in the second.
Another straight-sets win followed, this time over Lesia Tsurenko – who had defeated Angelique Kerber’s first-round canquisher, Ekaterina Makarova, in her previous match – with the result ensuring she’d reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.
She then came from a set down to defeat both Stosur and Wozniacki in each of her next two matches before downing 30th seed Timea Bacsinszky in the semi-final to earn her place in tonight’s decider.
The Latvian now has the chance to become the youngest Grand Slam champion since Ana Ivanovic won the 2008 French Open at 20 years and 214 days of age.
However, it will be Simona Halep who starts the prohibitive favourite as she looks to culminate a four-year rise up the tennis ranks with a maiden Grand Slam title and ascension to the world number-one ranking.
All is set for what will be an intriguing battle between Jelena Ostapenko and Simona Halep to decide the second major champion for 2017. Here is everything you need to know entering tonight’s French Open women’s final.
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) versus [3] Simona Halep (ROU)
Saturday, June 10
Not before 3:00pm local time (11:00pm AEST)
Court Philippe Chatrier
Head-to-head
First meeting
Jelena Ostapenko’s road to the final
Round 1: defeated Louisa Chirico (USA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
Round 2: defeated Monica Puig (PUR) 6-3, 6-2
Round 3: defeated Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) 6-1, 6-4
Round 4: defeated [23] Samantha Stosur (AUS) 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
Quarter-finals: defeated [11] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
Semi-finals: defeated [30] Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-3
Previous best result: First round (2016)
Simona Halep’s road to the final
Round 1: defeated Jana Cepelova (SVK) 6-2, 6-3
Round 2: defeated Tatjana Maria (GER) 6-4, 6-3
Round 3: defeated [26] Daria Kasatkina (RUS) 6-0, 7-5
Round 4: defeated [21] Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 6-1, 6-1
Quarter-finals: defeated [5] Elina Svitolina (UKR) 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-0
Semi-finals: defeated [2] Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
Previous best result: Runner-up (2014)
Stats that matter
Prediction
Simona Halep in straight sets.
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