#RG17 Day 14 wrap: Ostapenko’s stunning victory

Wow. A simple, yet fitting summation of Jelena Ostapenko’s remarkable victory in the French Open 2017 women’s singles final.

The No.47-ranked 20-year-old defeated red-hot title favourite Simona Halep 4-6 6-4 6-3 in a captivating one hour, 59-minute battle.

Halep was playing not only for her first Grand Slam title, but to overtake Angelique Kerber as the world’s No.1-ranked player. The 25-year-old Romanian looked on target early, securing the first set then racing to a 3-0 lead in the second.

But Ostapenko wasn’t discouraged and continued to play her aggressive game, and soon began to overpower her more experienced opponent.

“I felt like a spectator out there at times,” Halep conceded after watching Ostapenko fire 54 winners in the match.

RELATED: Gallery – Ostapenko wins women’s final

Ostapenko won the final five games of the match, clawing back a 3-1 deficit in the deciding set.

“I knew Simona is a great player and she was playing great. I was just trying to stay aggressive,” the 20-year-old explained of her mindset.

“I was missing but a couple of games were decisive and everything turned my way. Even in the third I was 3-1 down but I tried to fight for every point.”

Ostapenko’s stunning victory sets a number of new records, becoming:

• Latvia’s first ever Grand Slam singles champion
• The first unseeded woman to win the Roland Garros singles title since 1933
• The youngest woman to win the French Open in 20 years and youngest first-time Grand Slam champion since Svetlana Kuznetsova at the 2004 US Open
• Making fewest Grand Slam main draw appearances (with eight) before winning a title since Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon in 2004
• The first woman to win a Grand Slam as her debut tour-level title since 1979
• The first woman to win the French Open singles title after losing the opening set in the final since Jennifer Capriati in 2001

SEE ALSO: Best friends win doubles title

Ostapenko is projected to rise to a new career-high ranking of No.12 in next week’s rankings, with Halep to move from No.4 to No.2.

“I still cannot believe I won, I won the title, because my dream came true,” Ostapenko admitted post-match. “So, yeah, was just trying to go for shots when I could and match point, I was just (thinking), ‘Okay, I have nothing to lose, I’m just going to hit winner’.”

And fearlessly, Ostapenko did just that.

Jelena Ostapenko wins her maiden Grand Slam title! https://t.co/tm3KSlKacZ

???? 1er titre du Grand Chelem pour Jelena Ostapenko ????#RG17 pic.twitter.com/yVyxLPJuOO

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 10, 2017