Fierce youngster Jelena Ostapenko felt like she owned the place when she stepped on the Philippe Chatrier Court to face way more experienced Simona Halep in the 2017 French Open final. The 20-year-old Latvian was brave enough to always stick to her aggressive game, even when it didn’t bring results, and in the end her offense, despite a pile of unforced errors, outperformed the third-seeded Romanian and prevented her from overtaking the No.1 ranking from Angelique Kerber. When a young player reaches a Grand Slam final for the first time, we often see a total meltdown, but Ostapenko left us in awe with her absolute fearlessness, even though her best Grand Slam result prior to this Roland Garros had been the third round.
My photographer Jimmie48 was in Paris all the way from the first day of WTA qualifying to the final! Enjoy his last gallery, including photos of unseeded Ostapenko lifting the Suzanne Lenglen trophy.
MORE WTA PHOTOS FROM ROLAND GARROS 2017:
- Thursday: Ana Ivanovic’s retirement ceremony + WTA semifinals
- Wednesday: Halep, Pliskova win second pair of WTA quarterfinals
- Tuesday: Ostapenko, Bacsinszky win first pair of WTA quarterfinals
- Monday: Halep, Svitolina make the French Open quarterfinals
- Sunday: Tearful Muguruza loses, just as three other Grand Slam champions
- Saturday: Cornet thrashes Radwanska; Wozniacki & Halep advance
- Friday: V. Williams, Muguruza, Kuznetsova lead successful day for the seeds
- Thursday: Qualifier Martic upsets injured Keys
- Wednesday: Ons Jabeur’s historic triumph, Kvitova’s loss and more
- Tuesday: Konta suffers R1 loss, Halep & Svitolina advance
- Monday: Muguruza’s good start of title defense, Mladenovic and Wozniacki battle through
- Sunday: Main-draw action Day 1 — Kerber historic loss, Kvitova’s spectacular return
- Friday: Final round of qualifying + Kvitova’s comeback announcement
- Thursday: Petra Kvitova’s practice + second round of qualifying
- Wednesday: Roland Garros qualifying Day 3 + injured players Bouchard, Halep & Wozniacki practice
- Tuesday: First day of women’s qualifying + Evian event with Madison Keys and Maria Sharapova
What is next tournament for your photographer
SharapovaFun, it’s Birmingham.
Too bad Simona lost her chance to be a Grand Slam champ and become the new World No. 1. I think she has plenty of chances soon. Jelena was so good on each round. She showed maturity and she did go for her shots.