Ostapenko and Kichenoka lost 6-3, 1-6, 6:10 against neutral athlete Veronika Kudermetova and Belgian Eliza Mertens.
By losing the match, Ostapenko reached 125 points in the WTA doubles ranking.
The duo of Latvia and Ukraine is seeded fifth, while their opponents are fourth.
Also in this group, Ostapenko and Kichenoka will play with Canadian Gabriela Dabrovsky and Mexican Juliana Olmos (2nd), as well as Kazakhstan and Brazilian pair Anna Danilina/Beatrice Haddad-Maya (7th).
On the other hand, in the second group, the Czechs Barbora Krejčikova and Kateržina Sinjakova (1st), the Americans Jessica Pegula and Coco Goff (3rd), the Chinese Xu Yifan and Yan Zhaoxuan (6th) and the US-Dutch duet Desiree Krawczyk/Demi Schurs (8th) compete. ).
A one-round tournament will be played in both groups, but the two best pairs of both groups will enter the semi-finals.
Both Ostapenko and Kichenok are competing in the final doubles competition of the WTA season for the first time in their careers.
This season, the Latvian and Ukrainian duo won the prestigious Cincinnati “WTA 1000” tournament and the Birmingham “WTA 250” competition. They also fought to the title matches in the “WTA 500” tournaments in Dubai and Eastbourne.
In September, Ostapenko reached a record seventh place in the WTA doubles rankings, while Kichenoka rose to the ninth position. At the end of the season, they are fifth, but in the ranking they are currently in the 16th and 10th positions, respectively.
In 2017, Ostapenko played in the final singles tournament of the WTA season.
