47th seeded Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko rewrote tennis history when she became the first Latvian and the lowest ranked player to win a Grand Slam, beating Romania’s Simona Halep in three sets 4-6, 6-4 and 6-3 to win the French Open women title.
She stunned third seed Simona Halep to win her maiden Grand Slam title and deny the Romanian again in her second French Open Final. She lost the first to Russia’s Maria Sharapova in a very bitter defeat four years ago.
The 20-year-old is the youngest French Open winner since Iva Majoli in 1997 and the first player to win a debut tour-level title at a Slam since Gustavo Kuerten in Paris that same year.
“I am really happy. I have no words. It was my dream,” said Ostapenko, who will become 12th in the rankings on Monday.
In the last set, the aggressive playing Latvian was 0-3 behind but came back strongly as Halep failed to overcome her psychological barrier to take her first major title.
An elated Ostapenko said after her historic victory, “I still cannot believe it. It was my dream always. When I was a child I was watching. It’s amazing to play here. I just enjoy it so much.”
Halep failed again in her bid to join compatriots Ilie Nastase and Virginia Ruzici as major winners. And with the absence of Serena Williams, Sharapova and the early exit of world number one Angelique Kerber of Germany, it was a big opportunity lost.
A victory would have also seen Halep leapfrog Kerber as world number one.
A disappointed Halep said after her shock defeat, “I am sick in the stomach with emotions but hopefully I can win this one in the future.”
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