PIX: Ostapenko-Kichenok win US Open women's doubles

IMAGE: Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko and Ukraine's Lyudmyla Kichenok celebrate sealing victory over France's Kristina Mladenovic and Shuai Zhang in the US Open women's doubles final at Flushing Meadows, New York, on Friday. Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko and Ukraine's Lyudmyla Kichenok won the women's doubles crown at the US Open with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over the Chinese-French pairing of Zhang Shaui and Kristina Mladenovic on Friday.

The win marked the first women's Grand Slam doubles title for former French Open singles champion Ostapenko and Kichenok, who also reached the final together at this year's Australian Open.

IMAGE: Jelena Ostapenko and Ukraine's Lyudmyla Kichenok hoist the US Open trophy after the presentation ceremony. Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

Ostapenko and Kichenok broke in the second game for an early advantage and, after the Chinese-French pairing got the set back on serve, had a massive hold in an eight-deuce game during which they fought off five break-points for a 5-4 lead.

IMAGE: France's Kristina Mladenovic and China's Shuai Zhang pose with the US Open runners-up plate. Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

From there, Zhang was unable to keep the stanza alive and ultimately gifted the frame to her seventh-seeded opponents with a double-fault on the second set point.

In the second set, Zhang and Mladenovic broke early for a 2-0 lead but Ostapenko and Kichenok broke the Chinese for a third time to reach 3-3 and broke the Frenchwoman at love to reach 5-3 before Ostapenko closed out the match on her serve.

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