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01/10 04:07 CST Elina Svitolina and Wang Xinju to meet in the WTA Tour event
final in Auckland
Elina Svitolina and Wang Xinju to meet in the WTA Tour event final in Auckland
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) --- Top-seeded Elina Svitolina will play in the
final of the WTA Tour event in Auckland for the second time after beating
American teenager Iva Jovic 7-6 (5), 6-2 in a semifinal Saturday.
The 13th-ranked Svitolina also reached the final in 2024 when she lost to
American Coco Gauff.
Svitolina's opponent in Sunday's final will be seventh-seeded Wang Xinju of
China, who beat fourth-seeded Alexandra Eala of the Philippines 5-7, 7-5, 6-4
in the other semifinal.
Svitolina looked a little weary at first Saturday after an almost three-hour
quarterfinal against Sonay Katal on Friday night, which she won 6-4, 6-7 (2),
7-6 (5).
She dropped serve twice in the first three games Saturday to trail 3-0 against
the 35th-ranked Jovic, the eight-ranked American on the WTA Tour. Svitolina
broke back twice to level at 4-4, then dropped serve again allowing Jovic to
serve for the first set at 5-4.
But Jovic lost her serve to love and Svitolina took the set to a tiebreak in
which she led 6-1 before taking the set on her third opportunity.
She made short work of the second set, breaking Jovic in the third and fifth
games and sealing the match with two aces in her final service game.
Svitolina has been supported all week by her husband Gael Monfils, who will
play in the men's tour event in Auckland starting Monday.
"It's nice to get a straight-sets win," Svitolina said. "Yesterday was a big
battle and today as well in the first set. Iva was playing really well and I
had to really fight back, dig deep and try to find my level and I'm very happy
to be able to finish this match in two sets to save some energy for the finals."
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
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