The Baseline Player of the Week: Jelena Ostapenko

Every week Baseline will select a “Player of the Week.” That athlete may not always win the highest category tournament that week, but perform the best compared to their recent playing history.

It was not that long ago that Jelena Ostapenko was on the verge of making Grand Slam headlines. The Latvian was up 5-2 in the third set of her third round encounter at the Australian Open against the fifth seed, Karolina Pliskova.

“She actually said it to me now in the locker room, that she was tight,” Pliskova said after the match. “She was playing really fast, really well, I think. Also deserved to win. But unlucky in the end for her.”

Ostapenko’s nerves got the best of her in a 4-6, 6-0, 10-8 loss.

But just over four months later, the 20-year-old found herself on a far grander stage — the final of the French Open — and had every reason to be tight. The world No. 47 was playing in her first major final in an attempt to win her first WTA Tour title.

Nobody would have been the least bit surprised if Ostapenko wilted away while down 6-4, 3-0 against tournament favorite Simona Halep.

But instead, Ostapenko continued fearlessly swinging away. That willingness to win or lose on her terms was as far away from wilting as possible. Perfect offense wins in tennis, and Ostapenko got pretty close to it in the latter half of her match against Halep, going onto win the title, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

“At some points, I was like a spectator on the court,” Halep said.

Half of the points Ostapenko won, 54, were finished with a winner.

“If I have really good day and I’m hitting really well,” Ostapenko said, “I think anything is possible.”

Anything is possible when you hit 299 winners in a tournament to become the first unseeded player to win the French Open since 1933, and the first to win their first title at a major in 20 years.

She dropped the opening set four times throughout the fortnight (against Louisa Chirico in her first round, Samantha Stosur in the fourth round, Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals and Halep in the final). But just dug in and swung harder to recover each time.

Just months ago, Ostapenko let nerves take her first career fourth round appearance at a Grand Slam away. Yet on the grounds of Roland Garros, she smacked those nerves away like her backhand return winner on championship point.

And after it was all said and done, she was still just a giddy 20-year-old.