Elina Svitolina wins third Italian Open title, defeating Coco Gauff in three sets 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-2

Elina Svitolina won her third Italian Open title on Saturday, defeating Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-2 on Saturday in Rome. She previously won the tournament in 2017 and 2018 and improved to 8-0 in finals played on a clay court.

After Gauff rallied to force a third set, Svitolina quickly took control. Gauff misfired on several returns early, allowing Svitolina to hold serve. The Ukrainian then scored three break points to take a 5-2 lead. She won the set — and the match — with a brilliant recovery at the net to backhand the winner away from Gauff, who extended toward the sideline and was out of position to recover.

The match went to a third set as Gauff rallied after falling behind by a game throughout the set. She finally overtook Svitolina after a 6-6 tie to force a tiebreaker.

Svitolina initially appeared to find more energy in the tie-breaking game. She returned her forehand with added force, forcing Gauff to move side-to-side to cover the baseline while also trying to catch up to the returns. Yet Gauff was able to put Svitolina back on defense with strong forehands and reached to the corners for backhand returns, several of which landed just out of reach.

Svitolina won the first set, 6-4, and Gauff expressed frustration with her coach afterwards. In particular, Gauff struggled with her forehand, which prevented her from capitalizing on mistakes by Svitolina and cost her two break points. Gauff took 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 4-2 leads in the set, but could not break Svitolina’s serve as she evened the score.

Gauff’s frustrations continued in the second set as she struggled to finish shots. Even drop-shot attempts fell short of the net, allowing Svitolina to take the early lead. However, she finally found the touch on her returns, playing tough at the net while confusing Svitolina with a combination of drop shots and hard forehands toward the back line.

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With the win, Svitolina improved her career record versus Gauff to 4-2. She has defeated Gauff in three consecutive matchups this year alone, also winning at the Australian Open and Dubai Tennis Championships.