“We were supposed to get married” – US Open women’s doubles champion Lyudmyla Kichenok hilariously reveals delaying her wedding to compete in New York

Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko lifted the women’s doubles title at the 2024 US Open on September 6. After their victory, Kichenok revealed that she was supposed to get married during the second week of the US Open but had to postpone her wedding.

Kichenok and Ostapenko faced Kristina Mladenovic and Zhang Shuai in the title contest of the 2024 US Open. Kichenok-Ostapenko raced to a 4-1 lead early and, despite being broken back, were able to take the first set after an error-ridden service game by Zhang at 5-4. In the second set, Mladenovic-Zhang took a 2-0 advantage, but they were pegged back in the sixth game.

The Latvian-Ukrainian duo turned the screws on their rivals over the next three games and broke them twice to win the match 6-4, 6-3 and take home the Grand Slam title. During the trophy presentation ceremony, Kichenok made an interesting revelation.

While talking to presenter Mary Joe Fernandez, the Ukrainian revealed that she had planned to marry her fiance Stanislav Khmarskyi, who was present in the player’s box, on September 4. However, they could not go ahead with it as Lyudmyla Kichenok was scheduled to play in the semifinals.

“Also my boyfriend, could be husband actually. Because we were supposed to get married this Wednesday but it didn’t happen! We had an appointment to get married this Wednesday but just because I was playing the semifinals,” Kichenok said.

Stanislav Khmarskyi is a Ukrainian tennis coach currently working with Kichenok’s doubles partner Ostapenko. He and Kichenok got engaged in April 2024. Khmarskyi has formerly worked with several Ukrainian players, including Marta Kostyuk and Alex Dolgopolov.

Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko were seeded seventh in the women’s doubles draw at the 2024 US Open and did not drop a single set en route to their maiden Grand Slam title as partners. They began their campaign with a 6-3, 6-3 win over American wildcards Jessica Failla and Jessie Aney.

The duo won their second-round contest against Makoto Ninomiya and Jiang Xinyu with the same scoreline. Kichenok-Ostapenko then went on to defeat 12th seeds Laura Siegemund and Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-3, 7-6 (5); Irina Khromacheva and Anna Danilina 7-6 (2), 6-4; 10th seeds Chang Hao-ching and Veronika Kudermetova 6-1, 6-2 to reach the title contest where they defeated Mladenovic and Zhang.

Stanislav Khmarskyi is a Ukrainian tennis coach currently working with Kichenok’s doubles partner Ostapenko. He and Kichenok got engaged in April 2024. Khmarskyi has formerly worked with several Ukrainian players, including Marta Kostyuk and Alex Dolgopolov.

Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko were seeded seventh in the women’s doubles draw at the 2024 US Open and did not drop a single set en route to their maiden Grand Slam title as partners. They began their campaign with a 6-3, 6-3 win over American wildcards Jessica Failla and Jessie Aney.

Zhang.This was the second overall Grand Slam title for both women. Kichenok won the mixed doubles title at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships. Meanwhile, Ostapenko was the title holder in women’s singles at the 2017 French Open.