This tennis player was supposed to be at her wedding. But winning the US Open women’s doubles title changed her plans

By Ben Morse, CNN

(CNN) — Lyudmyla Kichenok’s time in New York for the US Open was supposed to be filled with tennis and capped off by her marriage to her partner, Stas Kumarsky, on the Wednesday of the second week of the grand slam.

But that schedule all changed when the Ukrainian player and her doubles partner Jelena Ostapenko kept on winning in the women’s doubles tournament.

So much so that they claimed the grand slam title on Friday, beating Kristina Mladenovic and Zhang Shuai in straight sets in the final in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

After claiming her maiden grand slam title, Kichenok revealed that Kumarsky – who is Ostapenko’s coach – had initially booked the wedding two days before the final for the pair to tie the knot but her success on the court curtailed that plan.

“We decided when we got here to New York, my boyfriend Stas, he checked where we can do it, because we got engaged more than a year ago,” the 32-year-old said on court after winning the women’s doubles title. “We were figuring out all the things, where we can do that. And, yeah, he found a spot here and he just booked an appointment for Wednesday.

“He told me that. I was, like: ‘Okay, yeah, let’s go.’ Just this procedure when you sign the papers, just to do that. Yeah, we actually set a date, but I had to play semifinals on Wednesday, and I said: ‘Okay, maybe next time.’”

Kichenok added that they will get married another time, hypothesizing that they will do it in either “Las Vegas or Europe somewhere.”

Kichenok and Ostapenko were dominant on their way to claiming the US Open women’s doubles title, not dropping a set all tournament.

It is their third title of the year, and afterwards, Kichenok dedicated the victory to the “people in Ukraine.”

“They are fighting very hard for our freedom right now and I just hope I can give them some encouragement. My heart is with them.”

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