Ostapenko is 1st unseeded women’s finalist since 1983
PARIS — Jelena Ostapenko is a young woman in a hurry.
On the day she turned 20, Ostapenko became the first unseeded French Open women’s finalist since 1983, using big and bold groundstrokes to end points lickety-split on the way to beating 30th-seeded Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-3 on Thursday.
“Her life is like this: Everything very fast,” said Ostapenko’s coach, former pro Anabel Medina Garrigues. “Hit fast. Walk fast. Talk fast.”
It’s true. How quickly did this come together for Ostapenko, the first tennis player from Latvia to reach a Grand Slam final? Not only is this just her eighth major tournament, and not only had she never been past the third round at one before this week, and not only did she lose her opening match in Paris a year ago, but she also has yet to win a tourlevel title of any sort.
“I mean, when I came here,” Ostapenko said, her words spilling out without a pause, “of course I didn’t expect I would be in the final.”
In Saturday’s championship match, the 47thranked Ostapenko will face Simona Halep of Romania, who got past 2016 U.S. Open runner-up Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the second compelling semifinal on a sunny day with the temperature touching 81 degrees.
While Ostapenko is assured of making her debut in the top 20 next week, thanks to her surprising showing at the French Open, there is more at stake for the No. 3-seeded Halep: In addition to a chance for Grand Slam title No. 1, a victory would allow the 25-yearold to seize the No. 1 ranking for the first time.
There will be quite a contrast in styles Saturday at Court Philippe Chatrier.
The 5-foot-6 Halep is a ball-chasing, defensive dynamo unafraid of lengthy exchanges who gets to nearly everything off an opponent’s racket and is careful when she swings. She made 14 unforced errors against the No. 2-seeded Pliskova, whose total was 55. The 5-10 Ostapenko, meanwhile, is aggressive as can be, a go-for-the-lines-and-hit-them player who likes to keep points as snappy as her answers to reporters’ questions.
Bacsinszky’s scouting report on Ostapenko, a pal she played doubles with last year? “She is young and reckless, in a sense. She’s not afraid of anything. She’s a big hitter.
“She’s a baby, but she’s a beautiful baby.”