Unseeded Jelena Ostapenko shoots to stardom with victory over Simona Halep in the French Open final

The Latvian had never won a tour-level title before arriving at Roland Garros and was 150/1 for a highly unlikely first Grand Slam crown before the tournament began.

But her fairytale run, capped off by this comeback triumph over the highly-fancied Romanian, upset the odds in dramatic fashion.

Ostapenko's memorable journey also sees her become the first unseeded French Open champion in the Open era and, at 20-years-old and two days, becomes the youngest Grand Slam winner since Maria Sharapova at the 2006 US Open.

After drilling her 54th winner of the match with a backhand down the line, Latvia's first ever Grand Slam champion dropped her racket to the clay and held her arms aloft in delight and disbelief.

The world number 47, who is the lowe-ranked champion at Roland Garross in the Open era, said: "I knew I'm already in the final and I'm playing such a great player as Simona.

"And I was losing 6-4 3-0, and then in my mind I was thinking, 'I'm just going to enjoy the match, and I will try to fight until the last point'.

"And then I stayed aggressive and the match turned my way.

"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 in those games."

She said: "I think I cannot believe I'm the Roland Garros champion. I'm only 20 years old. I'm really happy. I have no words, it was my dream."

Ostapenko had blasted her way into the final on the back of 245 winners - more than any other player in the draw, man or woman.

But Ostapenko had made nearly as many errors and the challenge for her was to keep the ratio in her favour.

This was the classic contrast of styles, with Halep a superb mover and defender, but ultimately aggression won out.

What was most remarkable was how Ostapenko defied her lack of experience to fight back from a seemingly hopeless position.

Halep, beaten by Maria Sharapova in the final here in 2014, had been the favourite from the start of the tournament and looked to be cruising at a set and 3-0, with points for 4-0.

But Ostapenko trusted in her game and then came from behind again in the decider, winning the final five games.

She said: "I knew I'm already in the final and I'm playing such a great player as Simona.

"And I was losing 6-4 3-0, and then in my mind I was thinking, 'I'm just going to enjoy the match, and I will try to fight until the last point'.

"And then I stayed aggressive and the match turned my way.

"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 in those games."

The sheer audacity of Ostapenko's ball-striking has wowed observers and opponents alike.

Speaking after her semi-final defeat, Timea Bacsinszky said: ''She's hitting as hard as she can down the line from nowhere. I mean, who tries that? It's like one out of 10."

But Ostapenko tried it and tried it again, and it worked. The Latvian finished the match with the same number of winners and unforced errors compared to just eight winners and 10 errors for Halep.

Ostapenko has been coached her whole career by her mother Jelena Jakovleva, adding former world number 16 Anabel Medina Garrigues to the team only last month.

She said of her power game: "I think nobody teach me. It's just the way I play. And also I think my character is like that. So I want to really hit the ball."

If she can handle the momentous nature of her achievement, Ostapenko can certainly have high hopes of doing well at Wimbledon having won the junior title in 2014.

The women's game in recent years has been littered with players who have struggled to follow up major breakthroughs, but Ostapenko is determined not to get too carried away.

"I'm really happy, but I still have to improve some things and to get better as player," she said.

"And so I will work hard to climb the rankings and to maybe win some more titles. Of course I would like to win probably all of the grand slams. It's my goal.

"I think if I have a really good day and I'm hitting really well, anything is possible."

Halep had been installed as the favourite ahead of the most open grand slam anyone could remember.

She overcame a pre-tournament ankle injury and recovered from a set and 5-1 down against Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals only to fall at the last.

"I think it was a good tournament," said the Romanian, who would also have climbed to world number one with victory.

"To play the final, it's an amazing thing. She played really well, all the credit. She was hitting very strong. At some point I was like a spectator on court. She deserved to win.

"This one hurts a lot maybe because I realise more what is happening. Three years ago it was something new. But it's going to go away, I hope, with time.

"I will keep working because I really want to repeat what I have done this tournament."

Jelena's Ostapenko: Route to glory

Final: beat (3) Simona Halep (Rom) 6-4 6-4 6-3

Semi-finals: beat (30) Timea Bacsinszky (Swi)  7-6 (7/4) 3-6 6-3 

Quarter-finals: beat (11) Caroline Wozniacki (Den) 4-6 6-2 6-2 

Last 16: beat (23) Samantha Stosur (Aus) 2-6 6-2 6-4 

Third round: beat Lesia Tsurenko (Ukr) 6-1 6-4 

Second round: beat Monica Puig (Pur) 6-3 6-2 

First round: beat Louisa Chirico (USA) 4-6 6-3 6-2 

Click here for all the French Open 2017 singles results