Birthday bliss as unseeded Ostapenko scythes into her first slam final
RIPPING a screaming forehand straight through the tennis textbook, Latvian Jelena Ostapenko blazed into the French Open final with a 7-6(4) 3-6 6-3 win over Swiss Timea Bacsinszky in a battle of the birthday girls yesterday.
On the day she turned 20 the free-swinging world number 47 launched a fusillade of 50 winners to become the first unseeded player to reach the women’s singles final at Roland Garros since Mima Jausovec lost to Chris Evert in 1983.
But seven-time French Open champion Evert, in Paris to do commentary, would not have recognised the brand of tennis served up by Ostapenko.
Mixed in with her scintillating winners, including forehands faster than anything men’s world number one Andy Murray has managed here so far, were 45 unforced errors, some of which could have been included in a video nasty.
At times during a match of 16 service breaks the impetuosity of youth betrayed her as she seemed on the verge of youthful tantrums in the hot Court Philippe Chatrier sunshine, especially when she lost four games in a row to lose the second set.
Bacsinszky, the 30th seed, who needed a bandage applied to her right thigh midway through the first set, looked the more likely winner at that point as she sought to celebrate her 28th birthday by surpassing her semi-final run of 2015.
Logic suggested the steady approach she adopted after losing the first-set tiebreak would get the job done for the experienced Swiss, not the white-knuckle rollercoaster tennis Ostapenko was playing. But Ostapenko played fearlessly in the decider and roared home from 3-3, swishing away a forehand to finish an absorbing contest and become the first Latvian to reach a major final.
Should she win tomorrow, against fourth seed Simona Halep it would be her first title – emulating the feat of Brazilian great Gustavo Kuerten who also announced himself to the world by opening his account at Roland Garros in 1997.
“I’m really happy, I love to be here,” Ostapenko said after the crowd serenaded her with a chorus of “Happy Birthday”.
“It’s a great way to celebrate my birthday.
“I was always playing aggressive and trying to hit the ball when I have the chance.”
Romanian Halep showed the full extent of her defensive skills to beat Karolina Pliskova 6-4 3-6 6-3 and reach her second French Open final yesterday.
The third seed, who will become world number one if she defeats Ostapenko in tomorrow’s showdown, benefited from her opponent’s unforced errors in the first set before Pliskova rediscovered her touch. Overwhelmed by Pliskova’s power in the second set, Halep regained the momentum in the decider, frustrating her second-seeded opponent with her ability to soak up punishment.
She ended the contest on her first match point with an unreturnable serve to reach her second Roland Garros final after losing the first one to Maria Sharapova in 2014. – Reuters