Eight years later, Ostapenko is still swinging freely and winning titles – WTA

2025 Stuttgart • 2 hrs ago She had turned 20 only two days earlier, and now Jelena Ostapenko was stepping — no, vaulting, actually — into history.  Her stunning three-set comeback victory over Simona Halep in the 2017 Roland Garros final was an exceptional, rare piece of work. Ostapenko was the first unseeded player to win a Grand Slam since 1933 and the first woman to make a major her first career title at the WTA Tour level in nearly four decades. In retrospect, is it any wonder the lively Latvian wasn’t quite ready for the oppressive notoriety, the pressure of expectation that would come with that achievement? “At that time I was probably fearless, but I didn’t have that much experience,” Ostapenko said a few months ago in Doha. “I think honestly now I’m a better player, and mentally as well. Getting a bit older and more mature I think is going to help me.”On Monday in Stuttgart, again unseeded nearly eight years later, Ostapenko proved it. She defeated World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-1 in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix final. That moves Ostapenko back into the PIF WTA Rankings Top 20. It was the first win over Sabalenka
Read More