Gauff defeats Svitolina to successfully defend Auckland title

No.1 seed Coco Gauff successfully defended her ASB Classic title by prevailing over No.2 seed Elina Svitolina 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3 in Sunday’s nail-biting final at the WTA 250 event.

Gauff of the United States shook off the loss of a topsy-turvy first set before notching the victory over Ukraine’s Svitolina after 2 hours and 35 minutes of play. Gauff won the seventh Hologic WTA Tour singles title of her career in the process.

"I don’t know if I was expecting this result, but I’m really happy with how I managed to play today," Gauff said after her win. "I think today level-wise was definitely not my best match or best level this week, but sometimes when you win when you’re not playing your best, it makes you feel more satisfied."

Fast facts: Reigning US Open champion Gauff has now won 10 straight matches at the ASB Classic after yet another victory on the hard courts of Auckland, New Zealand.

World No.3 Gauff’s perfect set-winning record over the last two editions of the event ended when she dropped Sunday’s first-set tiebreak, but she is still 20-1 in sets at the tournament during her two title runs.

Gauff is the fourth player to win back-to-back WTA titles at the ASB Classic, joining Patty Fendick (1988 and 1989), Eleni Daniilidou (2003 and 2004) and Julia Goerges (2018 and 2019). 

The 19-year-old improved to 7-1 in WTA finals in her career. Gauff also continued her excellent record on hard courts of late -- since the start of last summer’s hard-court season, she has a 29-4 win-loss record on the surface.

Svitolina, last season’s WTA Comeback Player of the Year, has a superb record in WTA finals as well, but she suffered a rare loss at that stage on Sunday. Former World No.3 Svitolina, who came back from maternity leave just nine months ago and is already back in the Top 25, has a 17-4 career win-loss record in finals.

Match moments: Gauff had lost her only previous meeting with Svitolina at the 2021 Australian Open, but the American started Sunday's match well, breaking for a 5-3 first-set lead with a forehand passing winner. However, Svitolina erased two set points in the next game, then hit a passing winner of her own to extend the opener.

Svitolina took advantage of that opportunity, cruising to a 6-2 lead in the first-set tiebreak. Svitolina needed three set points but ultimately snapped Gauff’s 18-set winning streak in Auckland.

Gauff started to take charge for good in the second set, where she moved ahead by a double-break at 5-2 after firing a backhand winner. Two games later, Gauff garnered her third break of the set to level affairs at one set apiece.

Neither player lost serve in the third set until 4-3, where Gauff earned a break point with a backhand winner. Svitolina shot a forehand long to drop serve, giving Gauff a chance to serve for the championship.

Gauff stared down one last break point in the next game, but she held on to hoist the trophy. Gauff finished the match with 32 winners to Svitolina's 21, and the American teen went 6-for-13 on break points.

More to come...