Halep, Ostapenko to battle it out for French Open title

Paris [France], June 9 (ANI): World N0. 3 Simona Halep will be facing Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in what could be expected as an exciting French Open final on Saturday. Halep defeated Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the last four context that lasted for two hours to reach her second French Open final on Thursday, thus taking her to within touching distance of a first Grand Slam title and the world number one spot. On the other hand, unseeded Ostapenko, who became first Latvian to reach a Grand Slam decider, downed Timea Bacsinszky 7-6 (7/4), 3-6, 6-3 in another semi-final clash. Crunching the ball off both wings and gliding assuredly across the red clay, the world No.47, who also celebrated her 20th birthday on Thursday, had the crowd on Philippe-Chatrier Court in awe as she ripped 50 winners past the Swiss. "I am really happy. I love to play here, I love you guys, you're amazing. I'm just happy with the way I celebrated my birthday," said Ostapenko after the match. The French Open champion will be a first-time major winner while victory will also crown the Romanian third seed as the new world number one, replacing Angelique Kerber. (ANI)