French Open 2017 Women's Final: Simona Halep vs. Jelena Ostapenko Predictions

Simona Halep and Jelena Ostapenko will battle it out in the final of the 2017 French Open on Saturday, with one of the two set to add her first career Grand Slam title.

Halep entered the tournament among the favourites due to the absence of Serena Williams and poor form of defending champion Garbine Muguruza, while few saw Ostapenko's tremendous run coming.

The 20-year-old had failed to make it out of the third round of the Australian Open earlier this year, but some tremendous displays in Paris have her in a position to complete the best Cinderella run of the 2017 season.

Per Christopher Clarey of the New York Times, her success in the tournament truly has been historic:

The Latvia native took the scalp of Timea Bacsinszky in three sets in the semi-finals and also grabbed wins over Caroline Wozniacki, Samantha Stosur and Monica Puig. It's an impressive list, especially considering four of her six opponents in the tournament took her to three sets.

Halep has also faced adversity―her comeback against Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals was nothing short of miraculous after being down 5-1 in the second set. Karolina Pliskova took her the distance in the semi-finals, too.

Per Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times, her semi-final was another tough match:

The Romanian has the clear edge in experience, having reached the final of Roland Garros before and making it to the quarter-finals or beyond of every Grand Slam. She's yet to pull through on the big stage, however.

Ostapenko's younger legs should serve her well in the final, as Halep came into the tournament nursing an injury. Per RTE, the 25-year-old admitted the issue still bothers her at times:

"I don't know how it stays OK. I feel pain during the match, but I don't care. I'm not thinking about that. I refused to accept that I cannot play, so I think I recovered faster mentally because of the positive thinking."

Ostapenko has been the underdog in just about every match she has played since her win over Puig, and compared to Halep―who will be reminded of her inability to win a major final plenty of times―she has little pressure on her shoulders going into Saturday's clash.

If she can stick to her guns, there's no reason to believe she can't complete her incredible run through the tournament.

Prediction: Ostapenko shocks the world, beats Halep in three sets.