Ostapenko will stick to winning Open formula
SHOCK French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko said she would keep true to her fearless, big-hitting game in the confident belief that more Grand Slam titles were just around the corner.
The 20-year-old, a virtual unknown before the start of Roland Garros, fired 54 winners and 54 unforced errors past Simona Halep in her 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win on Saturday.
“I’m just going to try to work hard but I think if I have a really good day and I’m hitting really well, I think anything is possible,” she said.
The Latvian ended the tournament with 299 winners – more than any other woman or man at the tournament.
“I always had the possibility I could hit the ball really hard. If I have a chance to go for a shot, I’m trying for it,” said Ostapenko, only the third woman born in the 1990s to capture a Slam title.
“Nobody taught me. It’s just the way I play. And also I think my character is like that. So I want to really hit the ball.”
Her “live by the sword, die by the sword” approach worked wonders when she was 3-1 down in both the second and third sets.
Her big hitting is also a testament to her favourite player Serena Williams, whose sheer force of will and raw power have been key elements in her success.
The former Wimbledon junior champion says she is looking forward to playing at the All England Club again next month where she made the second round two years ago.
But she doesn’t want to stop there. 1 She is the first unseeded grand slam champion since Kim Clijsters at the 2009 US Open 2 She won the 2014 Wimbledon junior girls singles title (coming back from a set down) and the All England Championships remains her favourite tournament.
“I would like to win all of the Grand Slams. It’s my goal,” said Ostapenko, who spends up to six hours a day on court in practice.
Her win on Saturday, which was also her first main tour career title, came in just her eighth Slam appearance.
She is the first unseeded 3 She pursued ballroom dancing and contested the Latvian national championships before deciding to concentrate on tennis. 4 Her father Evgenijs is a former professional footballer. player to win Roland Garros since 1933 and the lowestranked champion.
The French Open, she added, was always the major she dreamt of winning, from the time she strolled around the grounds as a 12-year-old and taking in the history at the museum. 5 Her mother Jelena used to be Ostapenko’s coach with her father acting as fitness trainer. 6 Ostapenko prefers to be called Alona. 7 Her tennis idols are Serena Williams and fellow Latvian Ernests Gulbis. 8 She was born in Riga on June 8, 1997 - the same day Gustavo Kuerten won his first professional title by winning the French Open, the same feat Ostapenko has now achieved. 9 Ranked No 47 in the WTA tour pre-tournament, Ostapenko will climb now to No 12. 10 Until Roland Garros, Ostapenko was best known outside of Latvia as a racquet-throwing villain after an incident in the WTA tournament in Auckland in January, when she almost hit a ball boy. 11 She is multi-lingual and speaks Russian, Latvian and English.