After postponement, Nadal, Djokovic try to set semi in Paris

Contesting her eighth career Grand Slam event, the 47th-ranked Latvian broke serve seven times toppling former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2-her fourth win over Wozniacki in as many meetings.

Quirkily enough, while Bacsinszky turns 28 on Thursday, her opponent Ostapenko will be 20 the same day.

Both players are seeking out their first Grand Slam win. Ostapenko started dictating the points, and in the third set from 2-1 Wozniacki, she won five games in a row.

Ostapenko’s mood was as dark as the menacing black clouds circling above and she gesticulated forlornly towards her mother Jelena, who is also her coach, as shot after shot flew long.

“I’m really happy, I can not believe it”, said Ostapenko, the 2014 junior Wimbledon champion who is now ranked No 47.

The 30th-seeded Swiss will play 19-year-old Jelena Ostapenko for a spot in Saturday’s final.

Wozniacki got off to a flying start against Ostapenko on Lenglen, moving into a 5-0 lead as she looked set to take advantage of an error-strewn start from the 19-year-old Latvian.

The stoppage should have helped the Dane but when play resumed Ostapenko continued where she left off, holding serve to level the match. “Of course, it’s good to have conserved your energy, but for Thiem I think I’d have liked to see him answer a few more questions”, the Swede, in Paris as a presenter for Eurosport’s daily flagship show “Game, Set and Mats”, told Reuters. By then, the teenager had found her depth and accuracy and had begun to pester her much experienced opponent with some powerful groundstrokes that were landing tantalizingly close to the sidelines.

“I actually didn’t expect that it would be here in Paris (for my birthday), but I am really happy it’s here”. She was playing her third consecutive French Open quarter-final on Tuesday and is now into her second semi in three years. At 1-1 and a break point down for the thirteenth seed, the heavens opened up effectively putting a halt to the steamrolling Bacsinszky.

10 – years since a teenager last made the semi-finals at Roland Garros prior to Ostapenko’s run this fortnight. Bacsinszky defeated 13th-seeded Kristina Mladenovic 6-4, 6-4 in a match twice interrupted by rain.

“When she said that I was known for that sort of thing on the circuit, really?”

Ostapenko clubbed 38 winners to Wozniacki’s six to reach her maiden grand slam semi-final, while Bacsinszky was far too accomplished for haughty Mladenovic on a dismal weather day. “We had a hurricane, a sandstorm, and we nearly had snow, too”.

But Bacsinszky broke back. The sun came out as the players returned and with the warmer conditions, Ostapenko marched to victory.