French Open: Unseeded Jelena Ostapenko Stuns Simona Halep to Win Title
Her first ever title!
Unseeded Jelena Ostapenko, who turned 20 three days ago, shocked the world when she defeated #3 seed Simona Halep, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, to win the 2017 French Open.
This is her FIRST ever title. She’s also the first Latvian to win a Grand Slam and the first unseeded female to win the French Open in the Open Era. From The New York Times:
Halep, a 25-year-old Romanian, would have secured the No. 1 ranking by winning, but she faltered, just as she did in 2014, when she lost her first French Open final in three sets to Maria Sharapova.
Like Sharapova, Ostapenko is a powerful and fearless hitter from the baseline, addicted to risk and capable of producing winners in flurries.
She turned 20 during the tournament and was still a teenager when she lost the first set of her first-round match against Louisa Chirico of the United States. But Ostapenko rallied, just as she would against two much more experienced players — the 2011 United States Open champion Sam Stosur in the fourth round and the former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals.
Her playing style and ability to generate big power off the rise have elicited some comparisons to a young Monica Seles, but unlike Ostapenko, Seles hit with two hands on both her forehand and her backhand. She also was a much more consistently composed competitor.
Ostapenko has tended to be unpredictable and volatile. Last year, she threw a racket during a tournament in Auckland, New Zealand, that bounced off the court and struck a ball boy. But she held herself in check at Roland Garros and now will climb from No. 47 in the world rankings to No 12.
Jelena Ostapenko lifts her first tour level title – The Coupe Suzanne Lenglen
Jelena Ostapenko soulève la Coupe Suzanne Lenglen ! #RG17 pic.twitter.com/C6X0hnOjAi
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 10, 2017
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
