US Open champion shares the funny message she told doubles partner before lifting trophy
Jelena Ostapenko and Lyudmyla Kichenok won the women's doubles title at the US Open.
Lyudmyla Kichenok has shed light on the funny comment she made to Jelena Ostapenko during their women’s doubles final at the US Open.
The No. 7 seeds beat Kristina Mladenovic and Zhang Shuai 6-4 6-3 to win their first Grand Slam title together.
But they appeared to be in trouble when their opponents won three games in a row and had five chances to break again but Kichenok had a message for her partner.
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The Latvian-Ukrainian pair raced into a 4-1 lead in the first set before Mladenovic and Shuai mounted a comeback, drawing level. They threatened to take the lead and serve for the first set in a marathon eighth game which lasted for 10 minutes.
But Ostepenko held on and got them over the line. The singles world No. 10 was also back under pressure serving for the title, needing four match points to get it done, though she always believed in herself.
“I was just thinking that I did it already once in singles, so why I wouldn't serve out the match, so I was, like, I just need few good serves and the match is done. I was pretty confident in my serve,” the 27-year-old said.
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Kichenok was also on hand to give her partner a boost during the marathon game late in the opening set. Laughing, she added: “I just came to Jelena after first point of second and told her, Just remember, you are Jelena Ostapenko, you are the best. You have to win it.”
The duo have a strong bond - their first final together came in an ITF event 11 years ago. While the doubles circuit can be brutal, with players chopping-and-changing partners, Ostapenko and Kichenok have competed together for years.
Explaining why they stayed loyal to one another, doubles world No. 17 Kichenok said: “Because we play for so long together, we know each other so well. By the time we play, like, with every match, we get this experience, we play better, and we know the opponents, we know ourselves, we know how it works. It works pretty well then.”
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And Ostapenko was in agreement. “Yeah, I mean, we feel each other quite well. Obviously we know each other for so long, so I think it's only, like, advantages,” she explained.
“Because a lot of players, as you said, yeah, they are changing partners a lot. So there is not much consistency. But I think, as I said, yeah, we know each other and feel each other already, like, way better than maybe some other doubles players.”
