Underdog Ostapenko wins first major title at Roland Garros

Latvian underdog Jelena Ostapenko won her first Grand Slam title in a thrilling manner as she came back from one set down to beat the No. 3 seed Simona Halep 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in women's singles final at the 2017 French Open on Saturday.

Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko celebrates winning the women's final match of the French Open tennis tournament against Romania's Simona Halep in three sets 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, at the Roland Garros stadium, in Paris, France, Saturday, June 10, 2017. [Photo: AP/Christophe Ena]

Ostapenko, who just celebrated her 20th birthday on Thursday, has already made history in the semifinals as the first Latvian player to make into the final at a Grand Slam tournament. Now, she capped her fortnight fairytale with a trophy at Roland Garros.

In their first head-to-head clash, Ostapenko heated up quicker into the match as she finished a break as early as in the first game with her familiar forehand attack, before her Romanian opponent made a quick response to break in the second.

Two players went head to head at 4-4 after eight games. Then Halep, also in quest for her maiden Grand Slam trophy and the world No. 1 position, took the next two games to win the first set 6-4.

With her signature powerful forehand, Ostapenko nailed 14 winners, also suffering 23 unforced errors.

Halep went on to build a 3-0 lead into the second set. Ostapenko made a strong comeback to win six of last seven games of the set as she mixed up the rhythm with consecutive backhand hitting to force a decider at 6-4.

Once again, it was Halep that got the upper hand at an early stage in the decisive set. She moved closer to her first Grand Slam champion with a 3-1 lead, only to see another great comeback from the Latvian, who rode on a five-game winning streak.

After finishing a high-quality backhand to seal the history-breaking win, an excited Ostapenko threw her racquet onto the ground at the Philippe-Chatrier Court.

Also seeing her first success at a WTA tournament, Ostapenko was the first player to win the French Open final from a set down since 1991, according to the Women's Tennis Association (WTA).

Halep failed to climb atop the top place on WTA world rankings after suffering another defeat as she did in 2014.