​Coco Gauff and Elina Svitolina, the main favorites of Oakland, will meet on Sunday in the grand final tournament category “WTA 250”.

Coco GaufPhoto: Andy Wong/AP/Profimedia

Coco Gauf – Elina Svitolina, in the WTA Auckland final

In the first semifinal of the competition in New Zealand, the American Gauff (3 WTA, favorite 1) decisively defeated her compatriot Emma Navarro (31 WTA), score 6-3, 6-1.

The match lasted only 64 minutes, and Koko served 10 aces and won 93% of her first-serve points.

Svitolina (25 WTA, favorite 2) played a much more difficult match. The athlete from Ukraine lost the first set to Sia Wang (71 WTA), score 6-2, but recovered and finally defeated the Chinese athlete, score 6-4, 6-3.

Know:

  • Coco Gauff is a Grand Slam winner: she triumphed at the US Open 2023.
  • Elina Svitolina, on the other hand, is a former WTA #3 (as of September 2017). The player from Ukraine reached the semifinals of major tournaments three times: Wimbledon (2019, 2023) and US Open (2019).
  • Previously, Gauff and Svitolina met only once, and the Ukrainian won: 6-4, 6-3 at the Australian Open-2021.

ASB Classic in Auckland (New Zealand) takes place from January 1 to 7 on hard. It has a total prize pool of $267,082 and is part of the “WTA 250”. The last champions are Serena Williams (2020) and Coco Gauff (2023).