Despite Elina Svitolina’s unsuccessful attempt to win the Wimbledon singles on Thursday, Lyudmyla Kichenok and her Croatian partner Mate Pavic went on to win the mixed doubles, giving their war-torn country another reason to celebrate a Grand Slam champion.
The seventh-seeded Kichenok and Pavic, both 30 years old, defeated Joran Vliegen of Belgium and Xu Yifan of China 6-4 6-7(9) 6-3.
“I try to encourage the people in Ukraine and I hope this helps a little because they are fighting for their freedom,” Kichenok said to a huge ovation from the Centre Court crowd.
“This feels amazing, I want to thank my partner for playing incredible in this two weeks.”
Pavic, a 30-year-old former world number one in doubles, adds the Wimbledon mixed doubles titles to his collection of five Grand Slam doubles titles, including three for men and two for women.
In the women’s semifinals earlier on Thursday, Svitolina, a wildcard, lost to Czech Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-3.
