The first meeting between Simona Halep and Jelena Ostapenko will see one of them become a first-time major champion in Roland Garros.
Simona Halep is not only playing for her first major title: she will also become the new #1 in the world with a victory on Saturday. This will be a return trip to the French Open final for the Romanian, having been narrowly defeated by Maria Sharapova in a great three-set 2014 final. Halep is the much more experienced of the two finalists, and has been a regular fixture in the women’s top four rankings over the past three years. Her coach, Darren Cahill, left Halep’s camp after the tournament in Miami earlier this year, as he reportedly did not approve of Halep’s negative attitude. Since Cahill returned several weeks ago, Halep’s attitude and fighting spirit have been most impressive.
Jelena Ostapenko will be 20 years and 2 days old on Saturday. She will not only be playing for her first major title: it would be her first career title of any kind. With a victory, she would become the first woman to win their first career title at a major in nearly 40 years. She would also become the first major winner from Latvia. Before this tournament, she had never played in the second week of a major. With a ranking of #47 in the world, she is the lowest-ranked female finalist at the French Open in the history of computer rankings. She is the first unseeded female finalist at the French Open since 1983.
At first glance this appears like Halep’s match to lose… but is it? Yes, she’s playing against an unseeded, un-tested, title-less youngster. Yes, the final will be on her best surface, while Ostapenko describes clay as her least favorite (though perhaps that opinion will now change). But the match will likely be on Ostapenko’s racquet, something the rather diminutive and defensive Halep has suffered from many times before. Ostapenko’s average forehand speed is actually faster than that of men’s world #1 Andy Murray. The Latvian goes for broke on her strokes, and it’s worked brilliantly through six rounds in Paris.
Halep will know all too well what an amazing opportunity this is to win her first major and become the new #1. The young Ostapenko has yet to show much sign of feeling any pressure at Roland Garros, as she has hit out freely and scorched winners past her opponents. Both players have been known to become negative when they fall behind, but both have not let those emotions defeat them in this tournament. Halep was down 6-3, 5-1 in her quarterfinal, before saving a match point and fighting her way back to victory. Ostapenko appeared to be near tears at times as she dropped the second set of her semifinal, but remained positive and comfortably won the third set.
It was 20 years ago this week at the 1997 French Open when Gustavo Kuerten and Iva Majoli shocked the tennis world. Kuerten was an unseeded player ranked #66 in the world who came out of nowhere to defeat two-time Roland Garros champion Sergi Bruguera. In her only major final, Majoli upset world #1 Martina Hingis (who had been undefeated in 1997 leading into the match). Could Ostapenko repeat their feats 20 years later and shock the tennis world on Saturday? It’s entirely possible, though it’s hard to bet against the big match experience and fighting spirit of Halep. Either way, we should be in for a fascinating final between two players with contrasting styles trying to win their first major.
