Unseeded Latvian Jelena Ostapenko advanced to her first Grand Slam semifinal with a comeback victory over former world number one and 11th seed Caroline Wozniacki, winning 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the last four in Paris.
Jelena Ostapenko ended her teenage years with a bang, overcoming untimely rain delays and a set deficit to former world number one Caroline Wozniacki to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal at the French Open. Unseeded Latvian Ostapenko utilized her powerful groundstrokes and aggressive mindset to maintain her dominance over Wozniacki, moving to 4-0 in their head to head with her 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory over the 11th-seeded Dane in just under two hours.
In the opening set, Wozniacki began strongly, making her intentions clear to see as the Dane went up a break in the first two games of the set 2-0. The former world number one saved three break points the following game as she eventually held to consolidate the break before backing it up with the double break as the errors and windy conditions continued to plague Ostapenko. Wozniacki saved two more break points to go up 5-0, sending herself a game from a dominant bagel set. 19-year-old Ostapenko held her nerve, managing a game to get on the board with a routine hold of serve for 5-1, forcing the Dane to serve out the opening set. Wozniacki played a tentative service game as she attempted to serve out the first set, getting broken at the Latvian’s third break point to bring the scoreline to 5-2.
Still down a break, Ostapenko’s errors began to pile up, going down early in the eighth game, bringing up two set points for Wozniacki, only for some aggressive play from the Latvian to save both and hold on for 5-3, forcing the former world number one to try and serve out the opening set on her second time of asking. It was a similar service game for Wozniacki as the prior time she had attempted to close out the set, as the fearless play of 19-year-old Ostapenko continued to break Wozniacki, fighting back for 5-4 with the match on serve. Still serving to stay in the set, Ostapenko played a disastrous service game, committing four unforced errors, including a double fault, to hand over the break and give Wozniacki a hard-fought opening set 6-4.
Despite eventually dropping the first set, the momentum was firmly with Ostapenko, as four of the last five games had gone the way of the Latvian heading into the second set. The pair split holds of serve before exchanging breaks to bring the scoreline to 2-all. As Ostapenko begun to heat up again, the unseeded 19-year-old broke Wozniacki easily before consolidating that break to take a 4-2 advantage over the 11th seed. The momentum continued to build for Ostapenko, breaking again to seize the double break at 5-2 before the rains began to fall over Roland Garros, with Ostapenko having taken nine of the last 12 games before the lengthy rain delay.
Once play resumed at Roland Garros on Court Suzanne Lenglen, it was Ostapenko looking to serve out the second set and level this quarterfinal match. The youngest remaining player in the French Open draw held her nerve, holding on to close out the second set 6-2 and level the match.
In the third set, the pair exchanged holds of serve to begin the decider before Wozniacki saved a break point to eventually take care of her serve and go up 2-1 before the heavens opened up again, as another rain delay descended upon Paris.
Following the second, shorter rain delay, Ostapenko came out a woman on a mission, utilizing her aggressive groundstrokes to punish the defensive play of Wozniacki. After the Dane held serve for 2-all, Ostapenko did not drop a single game from there on, taking both break chances she got and dominating on serve, closing the match out with a hold to love to take the match 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 and book a spot in her first Grand Slam semifinal at the young age of 19.
Following the match, Ostapenko was in an ecstatic mood after reaching a major career milestone. ” Yeah, I mean, it’s really nice, because it’s first time for me in the semifinals of a Grand Slam. I’m just really happy to be there,” said the Latvian.
Asked about her slow start to the match, Ostapenko said, “Yeah, Caroline was playing pretty well today. And at the beginning was really windy and was really tough for me to get my game, because I couldn’t expect where the ball was bouncing. She served pretty well, and then I just got my game back. Yeah, I felt quite confident.”
The 19-soon-to-be-20-year-old has never won a WTA title. When asked about the possibility of her first tour title coming at Roland Garros, a Grand Slam, the unseeded Ostapenko said, ” I mean, I have to take one step at a time and just — I’m still in the semifinal, and it’s gonna be a hard match. So I just have to go out there and just do my best,” concluded the Latvian rising star.
Ostapenko will next face Swiss veteran Timea Bacsinszky, as the 2015 French Open semifinalist put on a brilliant display of variety and guile to defeat French home hopeful Kristina Mladenovic 6-4, 6-4. An interesting subplot to Ostapenko and Bacsinszky’s semifinal encounter on Thursday will be that both women are celebrating birthdays of their own. Unseeded Ostapenko turns 20 while Bacsinszky turns 28. Both ladies of course though will hope to give themselves the best birthday present possible, a spot in Saturday’s French Open final, a first for either Ostapenko or Bacsinszky.
