"I cannot believe I'm the Roland Garros champion. I'm only 20 years old. I'm really happy. I have no words, it was my dream"
By Raz Mirza
Jelena Ostapenko, ranked only 47th and aged just 20, became one of the most unlikely Grand Slam champions in tennis history. But who is she?
Ostapenko became the first unseeded player since 1933 to capture the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen in a stunning and fearless 4-6 6-4 6-3 win over Simona Halep.
The 20-year-old is the youngest winner since Iva Majoli in 1997 and she emulated the darling of Roland Garros, Gustavo Kuerten, by making the French Open her first career title - the feat the Brazilian achieved in 1997 on the day Ostapenko was born.
Making her name
Born to former football player Jevgenijs Ostapenko and Jelena Jakovleva.
She was introduced to tennis at the age of five and idolised Serena Williams while growing up.
Ostapenko was initially coached by her mother, with her father serving as a fitness trainer.
In July 2014, the then 17-year-old Ostapenko sealed a comeback victory to beat Kristina Schmiedlova 2-6 6-3 6-0 and win the 2014 Wimbledon juniors title.
She speaks Russian, Latvian and English.
Currently coached by two-time French Open doubles champion Anabel Medina Garrigues.
Following her title win, she will move up to a career-high world No 12 from 47 in the WTA rankings.
At 20 years and two days, Ostapenko is the youngest first-time Grand Slam champion since Svetlana Kuznetsova won the 2004 US Open.
Advertisement
Professional career highlights
2012 - Played first WTA qualifying at Moscow; won one singles title and one doubles title on ITF Circuit.
2013 - Won two singles titles and four doubles titles on ITF Circuit.
2014 - She made her WTA tour main draw debut at the Tashkent Open.
2015 - First Top 100 season after reaching the second round at Wimbledon and US Open.
2016 - Represented Latvia at the 2016 Rio Olympics where she lost to Australia's Sam Stosur in the opening round.
2017 - Before entering Roland Garros, she came close to winning three titles this year, losing in the semi-finals at Auckland and Prague and the final at Charleston.
And despite winning her first Grand Slam title on Paris clay, her favourite tournament is Wimbledon.
Factfile: Jelena Ostapenko
Name
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT)
World ranking
47 (will rise to 12 on Monday)
Date of birth
June 8, 1997
Place of birth
Riga
Place of residence
Riga
Height
1.77m (5ft 10ins)
Turned pro
2012
Career singles titles
1
Career prize money
$3,638,260
Twitter
N/A
For those on the move, we will have the French Open from Roland Garros covered via our website skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkySportsTennis to join in the conversation. Who will win the French Open men's final? Have your say...