WHEN she was about 12, Latvian Jelena Ostapenko made a trip to Paris and to Roland Garros, to have a look at the French Open, not even dreaming that one day she would be there as a player.

Yesterday, she blasted her way to a first Grand Slam title with a stunning 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 come-from-behind victory over Simona Halep of Romania, a triumph of fearless hitting and sublime ball-striking of the like the tournament has rarely seen.

She looked down and out when she trailed Halep by a set and 3-0, with three break point chances to go down 4-0 but continued to go for broke, no matter what, and it paid off as she clinched one of the most remarkable Grand Slam title wins in recent history.

At 20, she is the youngest winner here since Iva Majoli upset Martina Hingis to take the title in 1997 while she is the first Latvian to win a Grand Slam singles title and she will rise from a ranking of 47 to 12 when the list is updated tomorrow.

Even more remarkably, she is the first player, man or woman, to win their first title in a Grand Slam event since Gustavo Kuerten won the men’s crown here, a feat he achieved on the day Ostapenko was born.

“There are similarities because of course when I was born he won the first Roland Garros,” said a smiling Ostapenko, who could barely believe how many people had crammed into the media room. “I think it is kind of a lucky, lucky number or something.”

There was nothing lucky about the way she struck 54 winners past an aggrieved Halep, the third seed who, in the absence of Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova, was heavily tipped to win the title.

Halep, who was in the final for the second time after losing to Sharapova in 2014, would have become world No 1 with victory and she seemed on course when she led by a set and 3-0, soaking up the Ostapenko pressure and making her hit one more ball every time.

But Ostapenko simply does not do fear and she continued to attack, slamming groundstroke winners on both sides, the power of her striking drawing gasps from the crowd.

After holding for 3-1, she won the next three games to go head 4-3 with a break and though she was broken in the eighth game, she hit straight back to take the set and force the match into a decider.

Halep’s defensive skills were outstanding and she regained her composure to go up 3-1 in the third, only for Ostapenko to hit back again.

The Latvian pulled on level terms at 3-3 and then went ahead with a break thanks to a massive stroke of fortune when her backhand, which was going to land at least a foot wide, caught the net and dropped dead the other side.

From then on, Halep looked resigned to her fate and Ostapenko held her serve easily before breaking again, firing a stunning backhand winner on the return – her 54th winner in all – to clinch the victory of her life.

“I think I still cannot believe it, because it was my dream and now it came true,” Ostapenko said. “I think I'm going to only understand that in maybe couple of days or couple of weeks.

“(At 3-0 down in the second set) I was just still trying to play very aggressive and to go for a shot when I had the possibility.

“I think Simona, maybe she felt a little bit nervous because she had a lot of pressure. That also helped me. But also in the deciding moments, I think I played pretty well. There were a couple of deciding games and then the match turned the other way.”

Halep said she had been sick with nerves in the 24 hours leading into the final, knowing what was at stake and how much of an opportunity it was to get her first Grand Slam title.

“This one hurts a lot maybe because I realise more what is happening,” she said, comparing the loss to her 2014 final. “Three years ago was something new, so now I know. It hurts a lot and I need time just to, I don't know, to go away.”

If Ostapenko, who is a former junior Wimbledon title, can maintain this kind of form, then she may just take some stopping when she gets to the All England Club in three weeks’ time.