Ukrainian player hopes Wimbledon mixed doubles title provides boost at home

Croatian soccer player Ivan Perisic, center, watches as Belgium's Joran Vliegen and China's Xu Yifan play against Croatia's Mate Savic and Ukraine's Lyudmyla Kichenok in the final of the mixed doubles on day eleven of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Thursday, July 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

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WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Lyudmyla Kichenok hopes her Wimbledon mixed doubles title gives a boost to her fellow Ukrainians.

Kichenok and Mate Pavic of Croatia beat Xu Yifan of China and Joran Vliegen of Belgium 6-4, 6-7 (9), 6-3 in the final on Thursday.

“I try to encourage the people in Ukraine with my performance,†the 30-year-old Kichenok said on court. “I hope it's going to help them a little bit because they are .â€

The seventh-seeded pair won the title on Centre Court shortly after Ukrainian player to Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-3.

Kichenok earned her first major title in any format. She is a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist in women’s doubles, including last year at Wimbledon.

For Pavic, it is a third Grand Slam championship in mixed doubles after titles at the 2016 U.S. Open and 2018 Australian Open. In men’s doubles, Pavic is a three-time major champion, including the Wimbledon title in 2021.

Croatia soccer player Ivan Perisic was in the players' box for Thursday's match.

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