Halep beat the second seed Pliskova 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to deny the Czech of claiming the world No 1 ranking from Angelique Kerber.
Ostapenko, the world No 47, is the first unseeded player to reach the final at Roland Garros since Mima Jausovec in 1983. Then US Open against (Flavia) Pennetta before that match.
After finishing an epic comeback in the quarter-final clash with Elina Svitolina, the Romanian continued her momentum on clay court and showed her advantage in power against a much taller opponent to take away the opening set 6-4 after a poor forehand from the No. 2 seed went outside.
Cahill sat impassively courtside as Halep exulted in a courageous triumph.
Simona Halep of Romania plays a backhand during her semifinal match against Karolina Pliskova.
But on the other side of the net will be Ostapenko, who's playing the best tennis of her young career. The Romanian, who will be No. 1 in the Race to Singapore next week and No.
This will be the fifth semifinal match between unseeded women or women with seeds of 30 or lower (Grand Slams increased seeds to 32 in 2001) in the open era.
Thursday's triumph also enabled Ostapenko to become the first Latvian to advance to a Grand Slam final.
"I learned many things during the years, not just after that final", she said. Hammering groundstrokes with the fearlessness of youth, the 20-year-old bashed 50 winners to get over the line after 2hr 24min and become the first Latvian to reach a major singles final. Halep's hopes of reaching a second French Open final were dashed after she lost to Maria Sharapova in 2014.
Extreme Heat is Affecting Flights and Lubbock Residents
And if it tries to land when the air is too thin and hot, that's not good either because it can run out of runway, McNally said. In the wake of a record 122 degree high in the Valley 27 years ago, on June 26, 1990, flights were grounded because of the heat.
In a stunning coincidence, the amiable Brazilian secured the first of three victories here on the day Ostapenko was born.
Coincidentally, Bacsinszky also celebrated her birthday today, turning 28.
The Latvian turned 20 on Thursday and Marion Bartoli led the Court Philippe Chatrier crowd in singing "Happy Birthday", in French, to Ostapenko moments after her victory.
"I was always playing aggressive and hitting the ball when I have a chance".
"I think probably I will have a lot of attention when I come back home".
On Thursday, in a frenetic match of 16 breaks of serve and in which she made 45 unforced errors, some of which would have had Evert wincing, she was irresistible at times.
The diminutive baseliner has been in slashing form over the past two weeks, sweeping Caroline Wozniacki and Sam Stosur after toppling Olympic champion Monica Puig in the second round.
None of it worked well enough to win, although here is precisely how close the match was: Ostapenko won 106 points, Bacsinszky 105.
She has 245 winners from six rounds - more than Andy Murray s 174 after five matches. Halep was down 5-1 in the second set (having lost the first) and looked to be heading home.
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