Kichenok dedicates Wimbledon doubles title to Ukraine

London: Lyudmyla Kichenok received a lengthy standing ovation after dedicating her Wimbledon mixed doubles title to the people of Ukraine “fighting for their freedom”.

The 30-year-old Kichenok and her Croatian partner Mate Pavic defeated Belgium's Joran Vliegen and Xu Yifan of China 6-4, 6-7 (9/11), 6-3 in the final on Thursday (Friday in Manila).

Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok holds her trophy after beating Belgium’s Joran Vliegen and China’s Yifan Xu during her mixed doubles final tennis match on the eleventh day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on Thursday, July 13 (Friday, July 14, in Manila). PHOTO BY SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP

“I really hope this helps the people of Ukraine because they are fighting for their freedom,” said Kichenok.

The crowd on Centre Court responded with a rousing and lengthy standing ovation for the player as she spoke at the trophy presentation.

The victory was a first Grand Slam title for Kichenok, a former top 10 player in doubles.

Former men's doubles world number one Pavic now has three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles to go with his three men's doubles trophies at the majors.

His previous mixed doubles major titles came at the 2016 US Open, with Laura Siegemund, and the 2018 Australian Open, with Gabriela Dabrowski.

Earlier, Kichenok's fellow Ukrainian Elina Svitolina agonisingly missed out on her bid to reach the women's singles final when she lost in straight sets in the semi-finals to Marketa Vondrousova.