All the instances when an unseeded player won a Grand Slam Singles title

#11 Jelena Ostapenko, 2017 French Open

Jelena Ostapenko became the first Latvian winner of a Grand Slam

Latvian Jelena Ostapenko began her French Open this year by coming back from a set down to win her first round game over American Louisa Chirico. She followed this with a second round win over Rio Olympics champion Monica Puig.

Ostapenko then defeated Lesia Tsurenko in the third round before coming from a set down to beat 2010 runner-up and last year’s semi-finalist Sam Stosur, thus reaching her maiden Grand Slam quarter-final where she beat Caroline Wozniacki in a similar fashion to advance to the semi-finals.

In the semi-finals, Ostapenko was up against Timea Bacsinszky in a battle of the birthday girls. Both players fought hard but it was the 20-year old Latvian who reached the final. Ostapenko thus became the first Latvian Grand Slam finalist, bettering Ernests Gulbis’ semi-final run at the 2014 Roland Garros.

The 20-year old’s opponent in the final was Simona Halep who was in her second French Open and Grand Slam final and a win would crown her the WTA World No.1. Halep won the first set but Ostapenko was resilient and fought back hard to win the next two sets and stun Halep to become the first ever Latvian to win a Grand Slam.

#12 Sloane Stephens, 2017 US Open

Stephens' US Open win took her 66 places to 17th in the WTA rankings

Once considered to be a future star when she reached the semi-finals of the 2013 Australian Open, Sloane Stephens’ form suffered a dip from 2014-2016 due to inconsistencies and injuries. She returned to the Top 100 of the WTA rankings, having been ranked 957th in July, by reaching the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Masters.

At the US Open, Stephens entered the main draw by virtue of protected ranking. She registered wins over Grand Slam runners-up in her first two matches against Roberta Vinci and Dominika Cibulkova respectively. She beat Ashleigh Barty in the third round in straight sets before defeating 30th seed Julia Gorges in the fourth round to enter her first Grand Slam quarter-final in four years.

In the quarters, the 24-year old defeated 16th seed Anastasija Sevastova following which, she came back from a second set bagel to beat Venus Williams in three sets to reach her first Grand Slam final. In the final, she was up against her friend 15th seed Madison Keys and dropped only three games to win her maiden Grand Slam title. Her win took her from 83rd to 17th in the WTA rankings.