A comeback at the start of the Aus Open. Lyudmila Kichenok won a strong-willed victory in the pair

Ukrainian tennis player and the fourth racket of the world in doubles Lyudmila Kichenok successfully started at the 2025 Australian Open.

In the 1st round, the Ukrainian woman and her partner Zhan Haoqing (Taiwan) beat the tandem in three sets Olga Danylovych (Serbia) / Anastasia Potapova in 2 hours and 17 minutes.

Australian Open 2025. Pairs. 1/32 of the final

Lyudmila Kichenok (Ukraine) / Zhan Haoqing (Taiwan) [5] – Olga Danylovich (Serbia) / Anastasia Potapova – 5:7, 6:4, 6:4

It was the first meeting of tandems. In the third game, Kichenok and Zhan lost twice with a break, but managed to get back into the game and win.

Lyudmila and Zhan started playing in the same duet in 2025. This is their first major together. In total, they already have four matches – 2 wins and 2 losses.

Last year, Kichenok reached the Aus Open final in one pair with Alyona Ostapenko.

In the 2nd round of the Australian major, Lyudmila and Zhan will play against the winners of the match Linda Noskova (Czech Republic) / Heather Watson (Great Britain) – Harriet Dart (Great Britain) / Diane Parry (France).

Lyudmila is the first of four Ukrainian women who managed to reach the 1/16 finals of the doubles tournament on the Melbourne courts. Marta Kostyuk, Angelina Kalinina and Nadiya Kichenok will also represent Ukraine at the AO-2025 as a pair.