It’s a semifinal to celebrate
Ostapenko to turn 20, Bacsinszky 28 Thursday in Paris.
PARIS — Suddenly a Grand Slam semifinalist for the first time, Jelena Ostapenko sounded a lot like the carefree teenager she’ll be for only a bit longer.
Ostapenko, an unseeded 19-year-old from Latvia, displayed unbridled joy after using the go-for-it strokes of someone too bold to know better to beat former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 at the French Open on a rainy Tuesday.
Two rain delays meant the men’s quarterfinals involving Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were postponed until today.
Ostapenko cracked jokes at her postmatch news conference, then giggled at her own words. As Ostapenko left the room, she turned to her agent and whispered with a wide smile, “My answers are funny.”
She seemed as surprised as anyone to be where she is.
“I mean, of course, when I came here I didn’t expect I’m going to be in the semis, but I was playing better and better every match,” the 47th-ranked Ostapenko said. “So I think if I keep it up, I think anything can happen.”
Those last three words might as well commemorate the women’s draw. With Serena Williams (pregnant), Maria Sharapova (denied a wild card after a doping suspension) and Victoria Azarenka (about to come back after having a baby) all absent, No. 1 Angelique Kerber upset in the first round, and defending champion Garbiñe Muguruza beaten in the fourth, this tournament became wide open.
It is the first major since the 1979 Australian Open where no women’s quarterfinalist was a Grand Slam champion. Ostapenko’s next opponent is 30th-seeded Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland, who eliminated 13th-seeded Kristina Mladenovic of France 6-4, 6-4.
Ostapenko and Bacsinszky, also a semifinalist at Roland Garros two years ago, will meet Thursday. That happens to be Ostapenko’s 20th birthday and Bacsinszky’s 28th — which they each knew, because they were doubles partners at a tournament last season and have become pals. After Tuesday’s victories, they ran into each other in the players’ gym and hugged.
“Lucky her, she’s way younger than I am,” Bacsinszky said. “But maybe lucky me, experience-wise.”
Ostapenko has yet to win a tour-level title.
Before last week, she had only once made it as far as the third round of any Grand Slam tournament.
She is the youngest French Open semifinalist in a decade.
Ostapenko sent shots toward the lines Tuesday and put them right where she wanted often enough to deliver 38 winners — 32 more than her defensive-minded opponent.
“It looks like she hits it late a lot of the time, and you think she won’t be able to do crosscourt or down the line in certain moments,” Wozniacki said, “and she does anyway.”
When Tuesday’s play began, the wind averaged 18 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph, making balls swerve oddly. Ostapenko was slow to adjust and trailed 5-0 at the start. Serve tosses were an adventure. Players wiped their eyes when dust kicked up. The two rain delays totaled more than 3½ hours, and when matches resumed for good, the temperature dipped below 55.
“We had all the seasons rolled into one today,” Bacsinszky said. “We had a hurricane, a sandstorm, and we almost had snow, too.”