By Chris Oddo | Tuesday June 4, 2017
19-year-old Latvian Jelena Ostapenko surged past Caroline Wozniacki to book a semifinal clash with Timea Bacsinszky in Paris.
Photo Source: Adam Pretty/Getty
In just her second Roland Garros main draw, Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia has cleared all hurdles to reach a maiden Grand Slam semifinal. The 19-year-old Latvian, who will turn 20 on June 8, seared 38 winners in a come-from-behind 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over Caroline Wozniacki to set a semifinal with No.30-seeded Timea Bacsinszky of Switzlerland.
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Ostapenko has now won all four lifetime matches with Wozniacki, three of which came on clay and two of which took three sets.
The match was delayed twice by rain, once with Wozniacki leading 6-4, 2-5, and the second time with Wozniacki leading 2-1, on serve in set three.
Prior to the first delay, gusting winds blew clay around the court and Ostapenko struggled to find her game. She did manage to turn things around by the time the rain came, and held a sizeable lead as they headed to the dressing room for what turned out to be a three hour and 20 minute delay.
Ostapenko closed out the second set upon resumption, then the pair stayed on serve with Wozniacki holding for a 2-1 lead before another storm forced a 29-minute delay.
Upon their second resumption, Wozniacki would not win another game.
The Latvian hit 38 winners against 50 unforced errors on the day, but in sets two and three she hit 26 winners to only 25 unforced. Meanwhile, Wozniacki remained passive, finishing with 4 winners and 16 unforced errors in sets two and three combined.
“At the end of the match I felt quite confident,” said Ostapenko. “After we stopped in the third set, 2-1, I won five games in a row. I think last couple of games I was just playing really, really well.”
Wozniacki, who reached her second Roland Garros quarterfinal, will rise from No.12 to No.7 in the WTA rankings next week as a result of her performance.
Ostapenko, meanwhile, will move forward in the hopes that she can become a maiden Grand Slam winner at the end of the fortnight. For the first time since 1979 at a major, the quarterfinals at Roland Garros did not feature a single former Grand Slam winner on the women's side.
Ostapenko, who had never reached beyond the third round her seven previous Grand Slam appearances, is the first Latvian woman to reach the last four at a major in the Open Era. She joins compatriot Ernests Gulbis, who holds that distinction on the men’s side for the country.
Ostapenko is also the first teenager to reach the semifinals in Paris in a decade (Ivanovic, 2007).
She came from a top quarter of the draw that was quickly abandoned by No.1-seeded Angelique Kerber, who fell in the first round to Russia's Ekaterina Makarova. Ostapenko has won three three-setters and also knocked off former Roland Garros finalist Sam Stosur in the round of 16. As World No.47, she is the only unseeded player left in the women’s singles draw.
In a strange twist, both Ostapenko (20) and Bacsinszky (28) will celebrate their birthday when they meet on Thursday for a spot in the final. They are the youngest and oldest player remaining in the draw.