Ukraine's Kichenok reaches Cincinnati WTA 1000 semis - Who will she play next?

WTA 1000 Cincinnati. Doubles. Quarterfinals. Nadiia Kichenok / Ellen Perez (Ukraine/Australia) vs. Nicole Melichar-Martinez / Lyudmila Samsonova (USA) 2-0 (6-4, 6-1)

Victory in the quarterfinals

Ukrainian tennis player Lyudmyla Kichenok, together with her Australian partner Ellen Perez, reached the semifinal of a WTA 1000 tournament for the first time this season.

This happened after their win in the quarterfinal match in Cincinnati, where they defeated the duo of Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) and Lyudmila Samsonova.

In the match against Melichar-Martinez and the "neutral" Samsonova, the opponents initially exchanged games until Kichenok and Perez took control of the match.

In the first set, they won the last two games in a row, securing the set 6-4. In the second set, the Ukrainian and her partner dominated, winning all remaining games after a 1-1 score and finishing the set 6-1.

Path to the semifinal

The Ukrainian-Australian pair, seeded sixth, began their tournament journey with a successful match against the Romanian-neutral duo of Sorana Cirstea and Anna Kalinskaya (7-5, 7-5).

In the second round, they defeated Americans Hailey Baptiste and Jessica Pegula (6-4, 7-5).

For Kichenok, this is her sixth career semifinal at tournaments of this level and her first in the past two years. The last time she reached this stage was in February 2023 in Dubai.

Next match

For a place in the final, Kichenok and Perez will face the Canadian-Australian duo Gabriela Dabrowski / Erin Routliffe.

This match will take place on Friday, August 15, and is expected to start at approximately 8:20 PM Kyiv time. This will be the first meeting between these pairs.

The winners of this confrontation will meet in the final, either Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini or Guo Hanyu and Alexandra Panova.

Earlier, we reported why Elina Svitolina and Marta Kostyuk left the Cincinnati super tournament.