After falling behind 2-0 in the second, Kichenok and Ostapenko surged back as Arthur Ashe Stadium began to fill up with fans waiting for the first men’s semifinal between No. 1 Jannik Sinner and No. 25 Jack Draper.
Mladenovic and Zhang fought off three match points — the last when a video review confirmed that Kichenok had hit the ball twice on an attempted volley — before the champions wrapped it up on their next chance.
Mladenovic has won six Grand Slam doubles titles but fell to 0-3 in the US Open final.
“But I still like the place. It’s OK,” she joked afterward.
Zhang was looking for her second trophy in New York, having teamed with Sam Stosur for the 2021 title. She and Mladenovic shared $375,000.
“For me the biggest motivation is I wanted to put our name on this trophy,” Zhang said. “But we will fight next time.”
As for her wedding, Kichenok only knew that it would now be “somewhere, somehow.”
“No plan yet,” she said. “Maybe Las Vegas or in Europe somewhere.”
