London: In the Wimbledon Mixed Doubles final on Thursday Mate Pavic with teammate Lyudmyla Kichenok defeated Joran Vliegen and his teammate Xu Yifan, 6-4, 6-7(9), 6-3.

Croatian Mate Pavic and Ukrainian Lyudmyla Kichenok made their debut in Wimbledon six years ago and now they have completed their ultimate goal together after their victory over Belgian Joran Vliegen and China's Xu Yifan.

According to the official website of ATP, Mate Pavic said, “It’s an incredible feeling, always, at Wimbledon. I played three finals here, I lifted a trophy two years ago. This was the first time in the mixed final, so it’s always incredible to play here. It’s always a special story with Wimbledon. I enjoyed it for these two weeks."

He added, “Of course I want to thank Lyudmyla for playing with me. We have the same physio. He’s Croatian. Lyudmyla and I played in 2017 together for the first time at Wimbledon. After that we never played, and through him this year we got together to play Wimbledon.”

After the win Lyudmyla Kichenok said, “It feels amazing. I was enjoying being on Centre Court today a lot. I want to thank my partner for playing incredible these two weeks."

“I just want to try to encourage the people in Ukraine with my performance,” she added. “I hope it will help them a little bit, because they are fighting for their freedom.”

WTA star Kichenok and Mate Pavic let slip a championship point in the second-set tie-break before Vliegen and Xu forced a deciding set on Centre Court. However, the seventh seeds did not dwell on that disappointment, as they earned a decisive break in the eighth game of the third set en route to a two-hour, seven-minute win.

Pavic, No. 17 in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings, and WTA doubles No. 15 Kichenok fired 20 winners to their opponents’ 14 for their third three-set triumph in five matches at Wimbledon this year. It was an emotional moment for the 30-year-old Kichenok, who became the first Ukrainian titlist of any kind in Wimbledon history. (ANI)

Kichenok dedicates Wimbledon title to Ukraine

London: Lyudmyla Kichenok received a lengthy standing ovation after dedicating her Wimbledon mixed doubles title to the people of Ukraine "fighting for their freedom".

The 30-year-old Kichenok and her Croatian partner Mate Pavic defeated Belgium's Joran Vliegen and Xu Yifan of China 6-4, 6-7 (9/11), 6-3 in Thursday's final.

"I really hope this helps the people of Ukraine because they are fighting for their freedom," said Kichenok.

The crowd on Centre Court responded with a rousing and lengthy standing ovation for the player as she spoke at the trophy presentation.

The victory was a first Grand Slam title for Kichenok, a former top 10 player in doubles.

Former men's doubles world number one Pavic now has three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles to go with his three men's doubles trophies at the majors.

His previous mixed doubles major titles came at the 2016 US Open, with Laura Siegemund, and the 2018 Australian Open, with Gabriela Dabrowski. 

Earlier Thursday, Kichenok's fellow Ukrainian Elina Svitolina agonisingly missed out on her bid to reach the women's singles final when she lost in straight sets in the semi-finals to Marketa Vondrousova. AFP