There are 127 matches played in a Grand Slam singles main draw with millions of possible combinations of match-ups, yet somehow Timea Bacsinszky and Jelena Ostapenko share the same birthday and will face off on the day of their birthday in the Roland Garros semi-finals on Thursday, June 8, 2017.
That is one mind-boggling coincidence.
Even nuttier… If Ostapenko wins the title, it would be her very first tour-level title triumph. The last player to win their first tour-level trophy at a Grand Slam was Guga Kuerten. When did he achieve that? On June, 8, 1997 – the day Ostapenko was born! (via @fiercetennis on Twitter, heard through @benrothenberg).
Crazy twists of fate aside, the fact that we have a 19-year-old in the semi-finals of Roland Garros for the first time since Ana Ivanovic in 2007 is great news.
The stories developing this fortnight on the women’s side are really interesting if you’re following closely.
Ostapenko, a fiery, quirky Latvian teenager who is not on her best surface but has a big, aggressive game, is the second-youngest player in the top-47 (Ana Konjuh is six months younger). A couple of her fellow 1997-born players have perhaps had better results sooner than her at the Slams but she has caught up and gone even further. Prior to this season, she had played six Grand Slam main draws and lost in the first or second round in all of them.
In Melbourne last January, she made the Australian Open third round and she’s now in the Roland Garros semi-finals. That is just remarkable progress.
Anything in particular you need to know about Ostapenko? She likes ballroom dancing and her favourite dance is the Samba. “I actually think because of the music, because some really nice songs fit Samba,” she tells us.
She certainly needed quick footwork to handle the terrible wind that wreaked havoc on her quarter-final with Caroline Wozniacki on Tuesday. Those ballroom dancing classes sure came in handy.
Meanwhile Bacsinszky is continuing with her dream return to the sport. The Swiss had quit tennis, worked in a restaurant at a hotel, but returned with a bang, making the semis at Roland Garros two years ago. She was playing her third consecutive French Open quarter-final on Tuesday and is now into her second semi in three years.
She finds the fact that she’ll be playing Ostapenko on the day of their birthdays fairly amusing.
“It’s pretty funny. I think it’s pretty cool, though. I saw her in the gym just right after our matches today, and so we both said, like, mutually to each other, Well done. We hugged each other, because, I mean, she’s a really nice girl,” said Bacsinszky, who is eight years older than Ostapenko.
Rain canceled the men’s quarter-finals on Tuesday. Here’s what you may have missed from the women’s action.
Winners cracked by Jelena Ostapenko vs. Wozniacki on clay this year:
— Courtney Nguyen (@FortyDeuceTwits) June 6, 2017
Charleston: 40
Prague: 70
Roland Garros: 38
It’s nuts.
10 – years since a teenager last made the semi-finals at Roland Garros prior to Ostapenko’s run this fortnight.
“Players are ready. Please sit as quickly as you can.”
— A hilarious Timea Bacsinszky pretends she’s an umpire for a second as she waits for reporters to take their seats for her press conferences.
“Ready? Play!”
— The brilliant follow up to Bacsinszky’s line from press conference moderator Eleanor Preston.
“You mean in the ballroom dancing? No, of course not. I was just doing some, like, Latin championships in ballroom dancing. And I think the courts I play are much bigger.”
— Ostapenko when asked if her ballroom dancing competitions as a youngster helped prepare her for the big stage in tennis.
“Stan works a lot. He falls, he gets up. He falls, he gets up. But recently he has decided not to fall.”
— Bacsinszky on Stan Wawrinka
#tb When Ostapenko was at RG2014 QF as a fan in Ernests Gulbis player's box. Kid growing up fast 😆 . pic.twitter.com/MzpUFK9QOG
— Jess Stein (@jessica4stein) June 6, 2017
Alize Lim attempts to interview Rafael Nadal
Nice touch @NickKyrgios donating new viewing hut where his #nanna used to watch him as a kid. #Canberra #tennis centre #memories pic.twitter.com/jaBEwVglhM
— Todd Woodbridge (@toddwoodbridge) June 6, 2017
