20-year-old unseeded Latvian Jelena Ostapenko has recorded a remarkable achievement, victorious in the French Open final against Simona Halep against all the odds.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
Jelena Ostapenko 3 6 6
Simona Halep 6 4 3
Women’s tennis prepares for a new Grand Slam champion as Simona Halep and Jelena Ostapenko do battle for the French Open title. Join The Roar for live scores and updates from 11pm (AEST).
For the first time since the 2002 Australian Open, neither Serena Williams nor Maria Sharapova have featured in a Grand Slam tournament, and their absence has afforded an opportunity for a number of players to seize control of the women’s game for the years to come.
Third-seeded Halep has been nipping at the heels of the world’s best players since making her first Slam final at the 2014 French Open (losing to Sharapova), but the 25-year old has often frustrated fans with plenty of early exits from major tournaments.
Clay is her best surface, however, and Halep has displayed some of her best form in the past fortnight, easing through the early rounds before surviving a pair of major scares against Elina Svitolina and Karolina Pliskova in the quarter- and semi-finals.
A set and 5-1 down against Svitolina, the Romanian produced one of the comebacks of the tournament to win twelve of the last thirteen games to clinch the match, before knocking out the highly fancied second seed Pliskova in the final four, again in three sets.
With Australian coach Darren Cahill back in her camp after the pair briefly split after this year’s Miami Open, Halep will not only secure her first Grand Slam title with a victory, but will also clinch the world No.1 ranking for the first time in her career.
At just 20 years of age, Jelena Ostapenko is a newbie on the professional tennis circuit – but she is already being touted as a star on the rise.
Ranked world No.47 prior to the tournament, Ostapenko is looking to become the first unseeded Grand Slam champion on either circuit since Kim Clijsters in 2009, and with stirring victories over Samantha Stosur, Caroline Wozniacki and Timea Bacsinszky en route to the final, the Latvian’s attacking mindset and ferocious forehand has served her well this tournament.
Her semi-final triumph over Bacsinszky – on her 20th birthday, no less – showcased her mental fortitude, the inexperienced Ostapenko holding her nerve after Bacsinszky levelled things up at a set apiece to win the decider and secure her maiden Grand Slam final berth.
Prediction
Ostapenko hasn’t yet played a top-ten seeded player this tournament, so Halep’s victories over 5th-seeded Svitolina and 2nd-seeded Pliskova indicate the Romanian is the player in better form.
But Ostapenko’s forehand is a powerful weapon – her average speed of 76 miles per hour this tournament is higher than men’s world No. 1 Andy Murray – and in a match set to go down to the wire, that could be decisive.
Ostapenko in an upset in 3 sets.
Join The Roar for live scores and analysis of the match from 11pm (AEST), and don’t forget to leave us your thoughts in the comments section below.
Tim Miller
Editor
» Click here to read the full match report Well, that's all from me. Jelena Ostapenko is the French Open champion after outlasting Simona Halep in a three-set epic, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. If you ever get a chance to look at the replay, do it. It's worth it. Thanks for sticking around, or for reading the comments section in the morning! It's been a pleasure to watch, and well worth staying up until 1.40am to look at. Do be sure to check out The Roar's live blog of tomorrow's men's final between Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka. My tip? Rafa in four. Until we meet again, then...
Tim Miller
Editor
And now it's Ostapenko's turn. "It was a very tough match for me, you played amazingly well," she says of Halep. "I wish you the best of luck for the rest of the season."
Tim Miller
Editor
Halep steps up to the podium. "I'm sad I couldn't win it, but it was a really great tournament, a great experience," she says. "Enjoy it, be happy and keep it going because you're still a kid," she says of Ostapenko, who acknowledges the acknowledgement with a nod of acknowledgement and a smile, also of acknowledgement. Okay, I'll stop.
Tim Miller
Editor
And now Ostapenko. She turned 20 just days ago, and now she's the latest Grand Slam champion. And with Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova's careers slowly coming to a close, is she the next player to dominate the world tennis scene? With that forehand, I wouldn't put it past her. The Latvian national anthem plays over the loudspeakers for the first time in a Grand Slam final. It's actually pretty catchy. But it does sound a lot like the New Zealand one.
Tim Miller
Editor
Up next is Halep. Smiling upon receiving the plate and acknowledging the crowd, but you can tell she's bitterly disappointed with the result. She had this match early in the second, and as much as Ostapenko wrested it back, she let a golden chance slip.
Tim Miller
Editor
Time for the presentations: up first, chair umpire Renaud Lichtenstein. He made a couple of excellent calls tonight; quality umpiring job.
Scott Pryde
Expert
This is Nadal on clay - I don't know, I'm looking forward to it either way!
Tim Miller
Editor
Undefeated in Grand Slam finals, Scotty...
Tim Miller
Editor
This was Ostapenko's first ever WTA title. And we're betting she's never going to forget it. We won't, either.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Can Wawrinka win tomorrow now? What a pair of upsets that would be.
Tim Miller
Editor
Was preparing to concede defeat when Halep was 6-4, 3-0 up in the second set. What a turnaround that was. Cheers for sticking with me for the match, Scott!
Scott Pryde
Expert
Ha, sorry for stealing your thunder mate.
Tim Miller
Editor
Was getting ready to embed that myself. You beat me to the punch!
Tim Miller
Editor
What a stunning match. It ebbed and flowed like nobody's business, the momentum sliding back and forth and back and forth, but at the end, it's Jelena Ostapenko, the unseeded 20-year old Latvian, who has emerged triumphant. From the opening point, you knew what to expect from Ostapenko- she was going to attack, attack, attack. She stunned Halep with a love break in the opening game, but with the winners came unforced errors, and Halep was holding her nerve with some superb defence. Ostapenko threw everything at her, but it was the world no.3 who stood firm to clinch the opening set 6-4, with more service breaks than holds. And when Halep withstood another ferocious onslaught from Ostapenko to take a 3-0 lead in the second set, it looked like she had it won. But then, for whatever reason, the moment looked like it got to Halep. Ostapenko kept going for the lines, hitting and then missing and then hitting them again, but Halep started to make mistakes. A missed backhand here, a netted forehand there, and four games later, Ostapenko had broken back twice to wrest control again. Halep got herself back on terms with a break of her own, but the fight continued, Ostapenko breaking back again to take the second set 6-3. And then the final set. Oh me, oh my, what drama. Halep took the first break in the fourth game of the set, going 3-1 up. But from there, it was all Ostapenko, and with luck on her side (a ball that looked for all and sundry like it was headed out kissed the net, flipped up, and landed in), the unseeded Latvian, or should I say the Latvian now ranked number 12 in the world, won five games in a row, including three breaks, to stun Halep. And the crowd, who had allied strongly with Ostapenko given her underdog status and early deficit, were lapping it up. In the end, it finished the way it had started. A decent Halep serve, out wide to the Ostapenko backhand, but dealt with viciously down the line for the final winner of the tournament in the women's draw. This game was on Ostapenko's racquet from the word go. And fittingly, it was her racquet that won it for her.
Scott Pryde
Expert
How's this for a feat?
Scott Pryde
Expert
Woah. I'm in shock. I didn't think she could do it, but she has. What an incredible victory, and what an incredible future Ostapenko has. Halep will be kicking herself. Thanks for the call Tim! You got the prediction right as well you miracle worker.
Tim Miller
Editor
GAME, SET, MATCH, CHAMPIONSHIP JELENA OSTAPENKO Ostapenko defeats Halep 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Jelena Ostapenko, take a bow! And what other way would she win it. You'll see this point time and again I reckon. Halep goes wide for the serve, but it's to the backhand side, and you know what to expect with Ostapenko. She goes for the lines, like she has all night, and she nails it beautifully. Pressure? What pressure? She raises her arms in triumph. She came into the tournament unseeded, and she has beaten the world.
Tim Miller
Editor
Ostapenko and Halep trade unforced errors to take it to 15-15, before another Ostapenko winner- off the backhand side this time- sends the ball hurtling past Halep at great pace. 15-30 Ostapenko But her quest to find the lines has meant plenty of unforced errors, and she just misses a backhand winning attempt yet again. 30-30 CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS! Oh me oh my. Ostapenko goes for the line again off the serve, cross-court backhand style, and it lands in! What an unbelievable shot! 30-40 Ostapenko AND SHE DOES IT!
Tim Miller
Editor
GAME OSTAPENKO Halep 3-5 Ostapenko She holds, and she's one game away from the title! Can Ostapenko consolidate? She starts well, Halep defending superbly before eventually sending a backhand wide. 15-0 Ostapenko But the mistakes are still coming from Ostapenko, as Halep keeps herself in the point before the Latvian errs in sending a forehand out. 15-15 Cah-runch! That forehand again, what a weapon it is. Halep goes deep with her return but it sits up for Ostapenko to nail a forehand down the line. Another winner. 30-15 Ostapenko The crowd cheers once again as Ostapenko again puts Halep on the back foot, with the Romanian pushing a backhand wide. Game points. 40-15 Ostapenko And she finishes it off clinically, with the wide serve opening the court up for an Ostapenko winner down the line! She edges closer now!
Scott Pryde
Expert
I just can't turn this off. Sensational tennis.