Gauff outlasts Svitolina in Auckland to defend title

Coco Gauff, the top seed, won the Auckland Open trophy by beating Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, the second seed, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3 at the ASB Tennis Arena on Sunday night.

With Gauff having navigated her first four matches in straight sets this week, Svitolina was the first player who truly tested the American in Auckland. And the 19-year-old rose to the challenge, successfully defending a title for the first time in her young career and extending her record in WTA finals to 7-1.

“This is my first time coming back and defending a title, so I’m really happy to do it.,” a pleased Gauff declared in the Auckland trophy ceremony.

First set sees big swings in momentum

The opening set in the Auckland final was about as topsy-turvy as it gets, with both players experiencing runs of momentum.

After an initial hold of serve each, it was Gauff who first ran out to a lead, breaking Svitolina to claim the upper hand in the first set at 3-1. Just when it looked like she was going to gain the ascendancy in this match, Svitolina came right back with a break of her own, leveling the set at 3-3.

Svitolina’s momentum was quickly nipped by a hold to love by Gauff at 3-3, which she backed up with another break. Seeing set points at 5-3, 40-15, it seemed as though Gauff would be heading to the chairs one set up shortly. However, Svitolina had other ideas, taking advantage of some wobbly serving from the American to break her for a second time.

The Ukrainian held on to force a first set tiebreak, before dropping the hammer to race out 6-2, claiming the tiebreak 7-4 in the end.

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Gauff regains her confidence, storms home in three

Across the first set, Gauff had moments of brilliance, and moments of real frustration.

The following two sets saw more brilliance than frustration as Gauff began to find her range and dominate the match. Her serve and ability to convert break points were still problematic at times, but she cut down the errors and leveraged her impressive court coverage to wear Svitolina down.

While Svitolina hung tough and made Gauff work for each point, it was clear the American had the upper hand as she methodically won the next two sets 6-3, 6-3.

This time last year, Gauff won the Auckland Open before going on to win her first WTA 500, WTA 1000 and Grand Slam at the US Open. Now, having successfully defended a title for the first time, what heights will she reach in 2024?

Gauff, ranked No 3, defeated Claire Liu (6-4, 6-2), qualifier Brenda Fruhvirtova (6-3, 6-0), Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva, the No 8 seed (6-1, 6-1) and No 4 seed Emma Navarro (6-3, 6-1) in the previous rounds of the Auckland tournament.

Earlier in the tournament, Svitolina, ranked No 25, defeated Dane wildcard Caroline Wozniacki (6-4, 6-3), wildcard Emma Raducanu (6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-1), No 5 seed Marie Bouzkova (6-0, 6-3) and Chinese Xiyu Wang (2-6, 6-4, 6-3).