French Open: Jelena Ostapenko offers glimpse of women's new guard as youngster looks to make history in Paris

Ostapenko, who faces Simon Halep in Saturday’s final, was a 100-1 outsider at the start of the tournament and is aiming to become one of the most unlikely champions in Grand Slam history

Jelena Ostapenko is the first unseeded finalist here for 34 years (Getty)

For years the talk has been of a changing of the guard at the top of men’s tennis, but the women have beaten them to it.

An unlikely final had always been on the cards here at this year’s French Open in the absence of Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, who between them had won the title four times in the last five years, but nobody would have expected it to feature a 20-year-old from Latvia who had lost in the first round on her only previous appearance.

Jelena Ostapenko, who faces Simon Halep, the world No 4, in Saturday’s final, was a 100-1 outsider at the start of the tournament and is aiming to become one of the most unlikely champions in Grand Slam history.

The world No 47, who has yet to win a tour-level title, is the first Latvian to play in a Grand Slam singles final and is the first unseeded finalist here for 34 years.

If she wins, Ostapenko will be the first woman to win her maiden title at a Grand Slam event since Christine O’Neil at the Australian Open in 1978. The last player of either sex to win their debut title at Roland Garros was Gustavo Kuerten, who did so on June 8, 1997, which was the day Ostapenko was born.

Having just turned 20, Ostapenko is the youngest finalist here since Ana Ivanovic 10 years ago, yet she has barely shown any nerves on her way to the final. She was happily chatting to the media yesterday about her love of pop music, rap music, detective novels - her favourite author is Agatha Christie - and ballroom dancing.

She had dancing lessons for seven years and still goes dancing four times a week when she is at home. “I think it really helps my footwork because you need to be very co-ordinated," she said.

Ostapenko is the youngest finalist here since Ana Ivanovic 10 years ago (Getty)

Tennis is a family affair for Ostapenko. Her mother is her coach and her father is her fitness trainer.

The key to Ostapenko's success here has been an uncompromising attacking approach. She has struck 245 winners at this tournament - more than any other man or woman - and has been hitting her forehand at an average speed of 76mph, which is 3mph faster than Andy Murray’s.

“I need to stay aggressive and to play my game,” Ostapenko said as she looked forward to the final. “But it’s going to be a tough match and I have to be ready for it.”

Ostapenko, who has never played Halep before, lists grass and hard courts as her favourite surfaces, but the clay here is clearly to her liking. “I'm playing pretty well on clay,” she said. “Here I think it's very special. It's a very fast court so it really suits me.”

Ostapenko possesses a fierce forehand (Getty)

She added: “Every match I was playing better and better and I’m really happy to be in the final.”

Halep is likely to provide Ostapenko’s biggest challenge so far so far given that the Latvian has yet to face a player ranked inside the world’s top 10.

The 25-year-old Romanian, who lost to Sharapova in the 2014 final, started the tournament as one of the favourites, having won the title in Madrid and reached the final in Rome. However, she was a doubtful starter here a fortnight ago because of a torn ligament in her right ankle, which still causes her some pain.

If Halep wins the title she will become world No 1 for the first time. Ostapenko, meanwhile, will rise to No 4 if she wins and to No 8 if she is runner-up. Whatever the outcome on Saturday, the Latvian won't be forgotten in a hurry.