The tandem of Ukrainian Lyudmyla Kichenok and Latvian Elena Ostapenko started their performance at the WTA Finals in doubles with a defeat.
They lost to the Czech-American duo of Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend in the tie-break with a score of 6:3, 3:6, 9:11.
WTA Finals: how the first match of Kichenok and Ostapenko went
The tennis players spent 1 hour and 38 minutes on the court, during which Kichenok and Ostapenko served five aces — as many as her opponents, made the same number of unforced errors as their opponents — each, but had fewer winners — 13 against 20.
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In the first set, the Ukrainian-Latvian duo took the lead with a break, 3:0, after which Siniakova and Townsend reduced the gap to 4:3. However, the next two games were won by Lyudmila and Elena.
The tennis players began the second set with an exchange of breaks, after which Siniakova and Townsend managed to make a breakthrough to 1:4. The Ukrainian and Latvian took two more games on their serves, but without a break. Thus, the Czech and American tied the score in sets.
The winners of the match were determined by a super tie-break. With the score 7:8, Kichenok and Ostapenko took two points in a row and served for the match, but the opponents turned the tide of the match and won a strong-willed victory 9:11.
According to the draw, Kichenok and Ostapenko ended up in the green group. Their rivals will also be the tandems of Taiwanese Xie Shuwei and Belgian Elise Mertens, as well as American Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Australian Ellen Perez.
To reach the playoffs of the WTA Finals, you need to finish first or second in the quartet.
