STUTTGART -- Before Iga Swiatek, Bianca Andreescu and Emma Raducanu, it was Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko who manufactured her own prodigious run as to win a first major title. 

In 2017, Ostapenko came to Paris as a 19-year-old big-hitting talent and went on to celebrate her 20th birthday by defeating Simona Halep in the final to win Roland Garros.

Flashback: Ostapenko comes out of left field to win 2017 Roland Garros

At the time, Ostapenko was the youngest French Open champion in 20 years and the lowest-ranked Slam champion since the introduction of computer rankings. What was a rare feat for Ostapenko would become a surprisingly common occurrence. Since her win, Andreescu (2019 US Open), Swiatek (2020 French Open) and Raducanu (2021 US Open) all won as teens, with the Brit becoming the first qualifier to ever win a major title.

On Tuesday at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Ostapenko summoned the same baseline power that won her a legion of fans in Paris, overpowering Raducanu 6-2, 6-1 in the first round. Ostapenko will next face World No.4 and recent Charleston champion Ons Jabeur on Wednesday. 

Ostapenko needed only 58 minutes to overpower No.68 Raducanu, who made the quarterfinals in Stuttgart last year. Behind 19 forehand winners, Ostapenko dominated play from the baseline to give Raducanu no inroads in the match. Ostapenko was unbroken for the match, saving the one break point she faced while going a perfect five for five in break-point conversions. 

"I knew against her the main thing was to step in the court," Ostapenko said. "Of course, I missed some balls but I tried to be aggressive all the time when it was possible. Just try to take the ball early, don't give her many chances. And finally, I'm back on clay, my favorite surface."

Now 25 years old and ranked No.22 in the world, Ostapenko's accomplishments during her 2017 season are easy to overlook. Heading into Roland Garros, she was ranked No.47 and had yet to win a title on the Hologic WTA Tour.

Her title run was a remarkable one. After wins against Louisa Chirico, Monica Puig and Lesia Tsurenko to make the second week, Ostapenko went on to reel off four consecutive three-set wins, over Sam Stosur, Caroline Wozniacki, Timea Bacsinszky and Halep to become the first Latvian major champion. 

Ostapenko followed up her win by making the Wimbledon quarterfinals, then won a second title in Seoul that fall. After engineering back-to-back semifinal runs in Wuhan and Beijing, Ostapenko qualified for her first WTA Finals and finished the year at No.7.

"I was kind of fearless. I was not thinking too much," Ostapenko said when asked about her 2017 success. "I felt today a little bit that way. I was just going for the shots. Even if I was missing, I was, like, It's fine, I will still go for the shots.

"Probably [need] to bring back this fearlessness, but of course it's tougher when you get older. You start to think more and of course you want to play better and more consistently."

"When you have more thoughts, it sometimes doesn't end up better for you."

- Jelena Ostapenko

Since that breakout season, consistency has been an issue. Ostapenko fell out of the Top 10 in 2018 and has yet to break back into that group. She has reached only two major quarterfinals since 2017.

Still, a run to the final eight at the Australian Open this past January seemed to signal the beginning of a return to form.

"It can sound a bit strange but I felt like I was stepping back a little bit too much in the years when I wasn't playing well," Ostapenko said. "When I'm stepping into the court and I play fearless like at the French Open and try to hit winners -- of course, not crazy, but play a bit smarter -- that's what's working well."

As she eyes her first tour-level match on clay against Jabeur, Ostapenko should like her chances. The two have split their two recent meetings, with Jabeur winning on the indoor hard courts of Ostrava and Ostapenko winning their last match on grass in Eastbourne.