Tennis fans will be in for a treat on Sunday morning with the first of two mega WTA finals set to tantalise the tennis tastebuds for 2024 as Elina Svitolina faces Coco Gauff in the ASB Classic final in Auckland.
Like in Brisbane where Aryna Sabalenka faces Elena Rybakina, it is the top two seeds who end the week fighting it out for the title with no real shocks this week when it comes to who has come through. It is a match though that has not been played for three years and neither met on Gauff's run to the title at the US Open. Our preview takes a look at the Auckland final as our first winner of 2024 will be crowned.
Svitolina & Gauff will face each other in the Auckland Final. Elina won the only match they played, which was in 2021. Elina came back after maternity leave stronger than ever. Coco is the defending champion & is playing some of her best tennis. Who wins? 🇺🇦🇺🇸
For Svitolina, her run perhaps is more impressive than the defending champion with the Ukrainian who faced returning as a new mother and was better for it and reached the top 25 getting pivotal matches in this week against top opposition.
The Wimbledon semi-finalist from 2023 was the story of the season with the summer of Svitolina captivating tennis as she returned with a new more aggressive game style and with the war back home in Ukraine, a new set of people to fight for as well as her own personal goals. She hadn't played though since a third round loss at the US Open and admitted after her first match that she wasn't sure how she would be after spending the rest of 2023 on the sidelines.
That anxiety likely heightened by the fact that Svitolina was set to face Caroline Wozniacki and the winner taking on Emma Raducanu potentially and all picked out by the 29-year-old at the draw ceremony so technically her bad luck was in her hands. But she motored past Wozniacki in superb fashion 6-4, 6-3 who herself had not played since Flushing Meadows and then it was a match that had the tennis world waiting in anticipation. That being the Emma Raducanu clash.
It saw Raducanu falter in the final set amid being out for nine months, but given her form against Marie Bouzkova next up, it also meant Raducanu was praised further for dealing with Svitolina in top flight. It was a 7-6, 6-7, 6-1 win for the former against Raducanu and she then beat Bouzkova 6-0, 6-3.
Elina Svitolina after reaching 21st career final in Auckland: “It was really difficult today for me. I had really tough matches in the first 3 rounds. Finishing yesterday.. going to bed at 2 a.m. It wasn’t easy. I tried to push myself. I played like there’s no tomorrow. I just…
Xiyu Wang was next up in the semi-finals and amid Svitolina not being 100% struggling with playing late at night most days, she had to find her resolve and grit to prevail 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. A title winner in her 2023 comeback, it could be one of her biggest wins since returning at around 5am CET on Sunday.
A lot of discourse over the past week has surrounded Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina as well as even Maria Sakkari all thumping opponents in United Cup and Brisbane, but Gauff has not really been heralded.
Perhaps it is the level of opposition or maybe the returnees on the opposite side of the draw, but Gauff has flew under the radar after her best season to date.
She has barely lost a game all week and has been taking apart every opponent in Claire Liu, Brenda Fruhvirtova, Varvara Gracheva and Emma Navarro. But truth betold, this should've been the case for Gauff given her ranking and high standard. Next will be her biggest test in Svitolina and one that will really show the true gauge against a Grand Slam contender.
The Queen of Auckland 🔥 Defending champ Coco Gauff is back in the final with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Emma Navarro!
But it is also a week where she has battled pressure to ever return to Auckland. Only players due to new WTA rules who win the title can return meaning that Gauff won't be able to play the ASB Classic again given her ranking if she doesn't win the final. A happy hunting ground in the past, this is perhaps why Gauff snubbed the United Cup and will be an added storyline ahead of Sunday.
Head to head, they have only played once and that was way back in 2021 when Svitolina as fifth seed took Gauff apart 6-4, 6-3 at the Australian Open. Will it be a repeat or will Gauff show why she is one of the world's best again?
