Romania's Simona Halep reacts as she defeats Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic during their semifinal match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, Thursday, June 8, 2017 in Paris.
Ostapenko won her birthday battle against Timea Bacsinszky to become the first unseeded woman to reach the Roland Garros final for 34 years.
Jelena Ostapenko is a young woman in a hurry.
If Jelena Ostapenko wins the French Open on Saturday, she would accomplish something no tennis player has managed to do since, coincidentally, the day she was born 20 years ago: earn a first tour-level title at a Grand Slam tournament. Anyone who knows the Swiss would know that asking her to say anything in just three words is a tall order. "Hit fast. Walk fast".
In the semifinals, Ostapenko, who is now ranked 47th in the world, will take on Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky, who is now ranked 31st in the WTA rankings.
"I'm ready to face her, and I'm ready to face another final".
There were these implicit messages in her answers that all lead to the same conclusion: She won't be celebrating this semi-final win because her tournament isn't over and she wants to finish the job this time, unlike her near-miss against Maria Sharapova in the 2014 Roland Garros final.
Like Ostapenko, Halep is one win away from her first Grand Slam title.
As for Halep, she's won nearly every top-level WTA event at the still-young age of 25, yet the clock has been ticking for a while on when that would turn into major trophies.
She made 14 unforced errors against the No. 2-seeded Pliskova, whose total was 55.
For all her tactical skills, Bacsinszky could not contain Ostapenko, who hit the lines on multiple occasions in an aggressive style reminiscent of Monica Seles.
Ostapenko fell in the first round on her main draw debut in Paris past year but is one win away from becoming the first player since Gustavo Kuerten in 1997 to win their maiden tour-level title at a Slam.
"She is young and reckless, in a sense".
The Romanian entered the French Open as the form women's player on clay and just might have destiny on her side after rallying from a set and 5-1 down - then saving a match point - in the quarterfinals against Elina Svitolina on Wednesday. "She's a baby, but she's a attractive baby".
EU Commissioner: UK General Election Results to Impact Spirit of Brexit Talks
Brexit talks are likely to be delayed after today's shock election result, which has left Britain with a hung parliament . He added, though, that the election losses could leave May more beholden to the hard-line elements of the party.
And she's not one to hide her emotions, either.
Bacsinszky - whose birthday was also Thursday; she turned 28 - employed all manner of strategies in a bid to throw off her opponent.
Action is due to continue tomorrow with the men's semi-finals. She tried mixing speeds and angles and target spots.
At 20, Ostapenko doesn't yet have the key to the door, but perhaps she has more.
The contest was tight, Ostapenko winning 106 points to Bacsinszky's 105, but even that did not spoil the mood of the Swiss, who was obviously disappointed but dejected. "I cry now or later?"
It didn't help that she tweaked her right thigh in the first set.
Petra Kvitova is playing her way back to health after surviving a despicable life-threatening knife attack, but there are not too many players around who you suspect could carry the sport beyond the confines of its enthusiasts.
"It is nice to be in the final again", Halep said.
You need to be Logged in to sign up for Express Login.
But they did it the hard way, coming back from a set and break down as well as trailing 9-7 in the super tiebreak where they faced two match points.
Bacsinszky recovered to grab the second set.
When Ostapenko held for 3-1 in a marathon fourth game of the third, the job was nearly done.
50 - winners and 45 unforced errors for Ostapenko against Bacsinszky in the semis.
Plus, the pace was entirely to her liking: 165 of the 211 points lasted fewer than five strokes.
Comments