PARIS — Jelena Ostapenko already had reason to celebrate on Thursday, as it happened to be her 20th birthday. But she went ahead and gave herself another occasion to commemorate: becoming the first unseeded French Open finalist since 1983.
Ostapenko used big, bold ground strokes to end points swiftly on the way to beating 30th-seeded Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-3, on Thursday.
“Her life is like this: everything very fast,” said Ostapenko’s coach, the former professional Anabel Medina Garrigues. “Hit fast. Walk fast. Talk fast.”
How quickly did this come together for Ostapenko, the first player from Latvia to reach a Grand Slam singles final?