Her win, which was also her first main tour career title, came in just her 8th Slam appearance.
Romania's Simona Halep holds the runner-up trophy after losing to Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in the women's final match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, in Paris, France, Saturday, June 10, 2017.
Halep, who also lost the 2014 French Open final to Maria Sharapova, paid tribute to Ostapenko in a news conference, stating: "She played really well, all the credit".
The 20-year-old produced one of the most remarkable tennis stories in recent years by becoming the first unseeded player in the Open era to win the French Open title.
The statistics from her victory over Halep suitably showcase this point, Ostapenko hitting 54 winners and making 54 unforced errors to her opponent's tallies of eight and 10, respectively.
"I'm really happy to win here", Ostapenko said after the match, evidently under the huge influence of emotions, "I think I still can not believe it because it was my dream and now it came true".
"I will keep working, because I really want to repeat what I have done this tournament".
Ostapenko had blasted her way into the final on the back of 245 winners - more than any other player in the draw, man or woman.
Again refusing to rein in her aggression, Ostapenko stormed through the final five games - seemingly breaking Halep at will. This was the classic contrast of styles, with Halep a superb mover and defender, but ultimately aggression won out.
Ostapenko's game certainly mirrors the 35-year-old American's power.
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A telling statistic: Of the 33 points Halep won in the first set, only one - yes, just one! - came via a victor off her racket.
If Ostapenko, who is a former junior Wimbledon title, can maintain this kind of form, then she may just take some stopping when she gets to the All England Club in three weeks' time. Winning over the famous tennis player Simona Halep will definitely become the brightest moment in Jelena's career. "Even in the third I was 3-1 down but I tried to fight for every point".
A large contingent of Romanian fans was now chanting her name with confidence, but her run of six games in a row came to an end, and Ostapenko grabbed the momentum.
Soon enough, Ostapenko was striking two more winners on the last two points to provide a fitting conclusion.
Two players went head to head at 4-4.
An ultra-aggressive style again reaped rewards for the 20-year-old Latvian, whose respective victor and unforced error tallies (54 and 54) dwarfed the respective numbers of her opponent (eight and 10).
However, the unseeded Ostapenko once again bounced back and eventually won the match along with the prestigious title 6-3. A year before that, she lost in the first round of qualifying at Roland Garros.
Ostapenko suspected that Saturday's match in sunny, warm conditions in Paris was shown on a big screen in the city center in Riga, Latvia's capital city. Not coincidentally, that was also the last time at any Grand Slam tournament that none of the women's quarterfinalists had previously won a major championship.
When Ostapenko is at her best, Halep's coach, Darren Cahill said, "You don't touch the ball".
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