Ostapenko receives best birthday gift with French Open semi-final win

Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko celebrates winning her semi final match against Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky at French Open at Roland Garros, Paris, France on June 8, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

PARIS -- 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 in Paris 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."