PARIS, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Jelena Ostapenko got the best birthday gift with a 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-3 victory over Timea Bacsinszky in the semifinals at the 2017 French Open here on Thursday, earning her a maiden appearance in a Grand Slam final.
Both players celebrated their birthdays on Thursday, with Ostapenko turning 20 and Bacsinszky turning 28.
The underdog Ostapenko also became the first Latvian ever to have reached the final at a Grand Slam tournament.
After sharing the first six games into the match, the Latvian broke to build a 4-3 lead after the seventh game.
Bacsinszky appeared to injure her right thigh muscle when she went out for a return. She called for a medical timeout during the interval, before returning to the court with heavy bandage on her thigh.
"It's not a tear. It's just muscle soreness, probably," explained Bacsinszky. "It was a sharp pain at the beginning, but then I got some painkillers, and I got the tape that I have had on was helping me quite a lot."
The two sides were dragged into a tiebreak, where Ostapenko won 7-4 with her strong forehand.
Ostapenko finished a total of 50 winners, while also suffering from 45 unforced errors. After losing the second set 6-3, Ostapenko broke four times in the decider to seal a final spot at 6-3.
After her historic win, Ostapenko heard a birthday song from the crowd on the Philippe-Chatrier Court.
"I created myself some opportunities, but on the other side of the net, she was playing quite well and defending very well everything that I was proposing," admitted Bacsinszky.
