Gauff rallies to beat Svitolina and retain Auckland title
Top-seeded Coco Gauff has retained her title at the WTA Auckland Classic, beating second-seeded Elina Svitolina 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3 in the final
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — Top-seeded Coco Gauff has retained her title at the WTA Auckland Classic, beating second-seeded Elina Svitolina 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3 in Sunday’s final.
For the first time all week, Gauff had a fight on her hands. She swept into the final without dropping a set; in fact, dropping only 15 games on her way through the semifinals.
That followed her flawless tournament last year when she didn’t drop a set at all and capped off a perfect week with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Rebeka Masarova in the final.
Third-ranked Gauff had needed only four hours of court time to reach the final whereas Ukraine’s Svitolina took twice that much, beating Wang Xiyua of China 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a match which lasted four-and-a-half hours with rain breaks.
