French Open joy for unseeded Ostapenko
Latvian is youngest grand slam winner since 2006 I felt like a spectator on court, says defeated Halep
From the carefree way that Jelena Ostapenko smacks a tennis ball, you would think no one was watching. Yet the unknown Latvian thrilled 15,000 fans on Court Philippe Chatrier, and millions of TV viewers, as she became the youngest grand slam champion since Maria Sharapova in 2006.
Judging by her on-court interview, Ostapenko was as bewildered by her triumph as everyone else. She arrived here as the world No47, hoping to get through a couple of rounds, or reach the second week at best. Her pre-tournament odds were 100-1, so this 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Simona Halep made her the most unlikely major winner that modern tennis has produced.
Now Ostapenko goes away with the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen, and the small matter of £1.8million in prize money. This was the eighth major she has competed in, and she only turned 20 during Thursday’s semi-final against Timea Bacsinszky. But by succeeding so spectacularly, she has already achieved a goal that eludes Caroline Wozniacki, Jelena Jankovic and Dinara Safina – all former No 1s who have never won a grand slam.
“I still cannot believe it,” said Ostapenko, “because it was my dream and now it came true. I think I’m going to only understand that in maybe couple of days or couple of weeks. Five or 10 minutes before the match, I was a little bit nervous, and then again when I was losing the second set. But then I felt I have nothing to lose, so I’m just going to enjoy the match and do my best.”
It is hard to say whether this will turn out to be a freakish outlier or the beginning of a glorious career. But those who witnessed it will not forget the hail of screaming winners, many of them slammed over the high part of the net with a confidence that defied geometry.
We thought Stan Wawrinka was pressing the pedal to the metal during his five-set win over Andy Murray on Friday. But Ostapenko crunched the ball away for 54 winners yesterday, which added up to 28 per cent of the points. As Halep said afterwards: “At some points I was like a spectator on court.”
Ostapenko committed 54 unforced errors as well, according to the scorekeepers. Halep, by contrast, kept a tight ship: eight winners and 10 unforced errors. But the unwritten rule of tennis, particularly in the biggest matches, is that “who dares, wins”. It is never comfortable to know that the result is out of your control – or “not on my racket”, as the locker-room jargon has it. Which may explain why, when the deciding set was in the balance, it was Ostapenko who held her nerve.
Halep had looked to be set fair when she won the first set, and led 3-0 in the second. At this stage, Ostapenko’s ultra-aggressive approach seemed to be achieving little but a rapid return to the locker room. There was not even an hour on the clock when she faced break points to fall even further behind. Had she missed with any of the high-tariff shots she attempted in those moments, Halep would have held a double-break and the contest would have effectively been over.
But Ostapenko held for 3-1, and suddenly the crowd was in full voice. They loved her for her sheer élan. The roar when she moved into a 4-3 lead with a blazing drive volley – and then whirled her fist in a lassoing motion – was one of the loudest of the tournament.
Ostapenko had come into the final averaging 76mph on her forehand side – a figure which earned much publicity for being faster than Murray’s 73mph.
Yesterday, Hawk-Eye trained their scanners on her again, and found that she ramped up her aggression with each passing set: 74mph in the first, 75 in the second and 77mph in the third.
By the closing stages, it felt like she was levitating above the court, so majestic was her ball-striking. The trick is not to look down, in case you realise what you’re doing.
But with the fans behind her, and the odd slice of luck, she rode the wave all the way to the title. Halep could only watch ruefully as one backhand drive, clearly flying wide of the sideline, clipped the net tape and redirected itself for yet another winner.
“I think everything was by her side today,” said Halep, who also finished as runner-up here to Maria Sharapova in 2014.
“But she has one rhythm, and she stays in that place, which is a great thing even if you miss a few balls in a row. For me, this one hurts a lot because I realise more what is happening than three years ago. Hurts a lot, and I need time to go away.”
During the on-court presentation, Halep also told Ostapenko to “enjoy it, be happy and keep it going because you’re like a kid”.
This was a fair assessment, as it was Ostapenko’s ability to play like a teenager knocking the ball around at the local club that made her so dangerous. As Bacsinszky put it before their semi-final, “Is she nervous or does she feel pressure? Maybe she drinks pressure, I don’t know.”
Twenty years ago, the French Open threw up another unheralded champion who, like Ostapenko, had never previously claimed a tour-level title. It makes for a neat coincidence that Gustavo Kuerten lifted the Coupe des Mousquetaires on the day that Ostapenko was born.
He famously celebrated by drawing a heart on the clay with his racket, something she did not repeat. But the gesture would have been unnecessary anyway. Paris had already fallen for this feisty, fearless character, the first player in Latvia’s history to win a major. And whether she turns out to be a serial champion or a one-hit wonder, tennis-lovers will long remember this day.