Ukraine’s Lyudmila Kichenok and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko beat number 4 seeds and US Open champions Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe 7-5 7-5 in 1 hour and 35 minutes on Margaret Court Arena in the semifinal.
The carbon copies were carbon copies of each other. Kichenok and Ostapenko came back from 3-5 down in each set to reach their first Grand Slam final.
Kichenok and Ostapenko earned the first break in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. Dabrowski and Routliffe broke straight back in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2 and earned another break in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead. Dabrowski served for the first set, but Kichenok and Ostapenko broke back In the ninth game and reeled the remaining three games including another break in the 11th game to seal the first set 7-5.
Dabrowski and Routliffe broke in the second game to open up a 3-0 lead. Kichenok and Ostapenko broke back in the fifth game before holding serve to 15 to draw level to 3-3. Dabrowski and Routliffe broke again in the eighth game exactly as in the first set. Dabrowski served for the second set, but Kichenok and Ostapenko broke again to draw level to 5-5. The Ukrainian and Latvian team reeled off the final three games to seal the second set 7-5.
Kichenok and Ostapenko lost in their previous two Grand Slam women’s doubles semifinals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
Ostapenko won her first Grand Slam singles title in 2017. Kichenok claimed the mixed doubles title with Mate Pavic at Wimbledon last year.
