Halep denied the Czech the No. 1 ranking. "I'm just happy with the way I celebrated my birthday", said Ostapenko after the match. "I think it's a nice gift".
"It's a very strong word for me".
In her clan is her manager Virginia Ruzici, the only Romanian woman to have won a grand slam at the French Open in 1978. "I hope I can play better and win it". I saw a little bit of her match today.
Yet to win a WTA Tour final, Ostapenko could be the first player to lift the French Open as her maiden title since Gustavo Kuerten in 1997. But I'm confident as well. I'm ready to face her, and I'm ready to face another final.
"Yeah", Halep confirmed. "Was better, actually".
Meanwhile, Bacsinszky gave yet another top-notch press conference after her loss to Ostapenko and was asked to use three words to describe her Roland Garros 2017 experience.
Ostapenko - who practiced ballroom dancing when younger - signaled her promise in tennis by winning the Wimbledon juniors in 2014. She made 14 unforced errors against the No. 2-seeded Pliskova, whose total was 55.
Despite Switzerland's Bacsinszky being a French speaker, Ostapenko was the crowd favorite, perhaps due to her flashy game.
"She's putting everything back", Pliskova said.
"Such a big event", she said.
And she's not one to hide her emotions, either.
But the Latvian took the challenge to Bacsinszky with her aggression, nipping ahead at 4-3 before the Swiss called for the trainer. Accenting shots with high-pitched exhales, she likes points quick and is not shy about unleashing a forehand measured as being faster than that of men's No. 1 Andy Murray.
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The 2015 semifinalist did rally to force a third but was always under pressure on serve in the decider.
When it was, Ostapenko also ensured becoming the youngest French Open finalist since Ana Ivanovic in 2007. The match on Thursday was also a joint birthday celebration for the pair but Ostapenko will have the better memories after holding her nerve on the biggest day of her career. "And then I started to feel more relaxed, maybe because I thought it's finished".
Action is due to continue tomorrow with the men's semi-finals.
"This is one the match could be totally different from the beginning", commented Pliskova. "True love for Paris, for this tournament, for the French Open, for the clay, for the atmosphere, for the people here, yeah, many things". "She was more successful".
The first set seemed to fit the pattern many expected.
The second-seeded Czech fended off three break points on her way to claiming the second set 6-3, clinching it with a forehand victor on her second set point.
With points stretching in the third, the key break resulted at 4-3.
After coming from 6-3, 5-1 down, and later saving match point, against Elina Svitolina in the previous round, Halep put her second life in the tournament to good use.
Halep's press conference after she beat world No3 Karolina Pliskova in three sets on Thursday can be summarised in one sentence.
"I think I will beat 99 per cent of the girls with this tennis that I was playing today, so just unlucky that it was Simona today there".
"The best example is the match point". "I created myself some opportunities, but on the other side of the net she was playing quite well, and she was defending very well everything I was proposing".
50 - winners and 45 unforced errors for Ostapenko against Bacsinszky in the semis.
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