Wimbledon 2023: China denied mixed doubles glory for Xu Yifan, but Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok takes title and applause for emotional winner’s speech
- Xu Yifan and Joran Vliegen go close to capturing mixed doubles crown despite having never met before the championships
- Kichenok given ovation as she says she hopes to ‘encourage the people in Ukraine’ who are ‘fighting for their freedom’ after triumph alongside Mate Pavic
Xu Yifan of China described her 2023 Wimbledon as magical after she and her partner Joran Vliegen almost conjured an unlikely finish to the mixed doubles – having been complete strangers only a fortnight ago.
The unseeded pair shared a closely fought final at the All England Club with Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine and Croatia’s Mate Pavic, who eventually clinched a 6-4, 6-7 (9/11), 6-3 triumph that an emotional Kichenok dedicated to her war-torn country.
“I have a message,” Kichenok said in her speech during the trophy presentation. “I try to encourage the people in Ukraine with my performance. I hope it’s going to help them a little bit because they are fighting for their freedom.”
The 30-year-old – the first Ukrainian to triumph at Wimbledon and only the third to win any grand-slam tournament – drew a standing ovation, yet also winning hearts on Centre Court were Xu and Vliegen.
It was not only their first foray to the business end of this tournament but a genuine step into the unknown, with Vliegen revealing afterwards that he and Xu, also known as Julie, had never met before being introduced at London’s SW19.
“We didn’t know each other and had never spoken to each other before,” the Belgian, 30, said. “I’d like to thank Julie for making it such a good two weeks.”
There was barely time for some hasty practice before their first-round match, but they found enough chemistry to take them past second seeds Desirae Krawczyk and Neal Skupski, and kept improvising from there.
“To be honest, this is magic for me, the past two weeks,” Xu said. “I’m very happy to be here.
“We didn’t make it but I’m very grateful to be standing here again at Wimbledon.”
She had stood there previously in women’s doubles, in which she was a losing Wimbledon finalist in 2019. Asian Games gold had come a year earlier, and a US Open final followed in 2020.
The 34-year-old left-hander from Tianjin was an influential presence on Thursday, excelling at the net. Countering the magic of the scratch pairing, however, was the powerful motivation firing Kichenok – not to mention the know-how of Pavic, the former men’s doubles world No 1.
Earlier, Kichenok’s fellow Ukrainian Elina Svitolina had missed out on a place in Saturday’s women’s singles final when she lost her semi-final to Marketa Vondrousova, with Belarusian second seed Aryna Sabalenka outgunned by Ons Jabeur of Tunisia in the other semi.
Watched from the players’ box by Croatia footballer Ivan Perisic, his friend and compatriot, Pavic quickly showed the qualities that had brought him three men’s doubles and two – soon to be three – mixed doubles successes in grand-slam tournaments.
He and Kichenok edged the first set, then won 42 points to their opponents’ 43 in a knife-edge second. The seventh seeds trailed the China-Belgium pairing 30-0 at 5-6 before reeling them in to force a tiebreak.
After surviving a championship point, Xu and Vliegen shaded a sensational rally settled by a Vliegen volley that sent Pavic sliding into the umpire’s chair. That gave them a first set point; they capitalised on their fourth.
An outrageous angled ace by Xu levelled the deciding set at 2-2, but she was broken at 3-4 and Pavic served out for the title.
Li Na pictured with Federer at Wimbledon, gears up for return to court
Pavic, 30, said he and Kichenok, too, had little familiarity to draw on, even if they were not absolute beginners like the other duo.
“We played in 2017 for the first time together at Wimbledon and we never played together again until our physio brought us back together [this year],” he said. “It’s always a special story at Wimbledon.”
