By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday September 6, 2024
New York—No wedding. But a Grand Slam title instead.
Ukraine’s Lyudmila Kichenok was supposed to get married on Wednesday to fiance Stas Kumarsky but instead postponed the ceremony to complete her run to the US Open women’s doubles title with Jelena Ostapenko.
Kichenok and Ostapenko capped off their run by defeating Kristina Mladenovic and Zhang Shuai 6-4, 6-3 in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday.
Women’s Singles Grand Slam Doubles Champions, 2024:
Australian Open: Hsieh Su-Wei and Elise Mertens
Roland-Garros: Coco Gauff and Katerina Siniakova
Wimbledon: Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova
US Open: Jelena Ostapenko and Lyudmila Kichenok
Kichenok revealed her story during the post-match trophy ceremony, then elaborated in her post-match press conference.
“We decided when we got here to New York, my boyfriend Stas, he checked where we can do it,” she said. “Because we got engaged more than a year ago. We were figuring out all the things, where we can do that. And he found a spot here [in New York] and he just booked an appointment for Wednesday.”
“Didn’t happen. But, yeah, we’re going to do it somewhere somehow.”
Ostapenko and Kichenok claimed their maiden major doubles title and their fifth overall title as a team. They were Australian Open runner ups in January.
“It’s amazing,” Ostapenko said. “The whole week was really amazing, and especially to play in New York. I feel like we played really well. We didn’t lose one set during the tournament.”
“Still goose bumps after we went out of the court and feels amazing first time we win the Grand Slam,” Kichenok, who plans to get married soon, maybe in Las Vegas or Europe, added Kichenok.
