Tennis: Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina sees off tenacious Coco Gauff to win third Italian Open title

Tennis world No. 10 Elina Svitolina will lift the Scudo for a third time at the Italian Open, after defeating two-time Grand Slam singles champion Coco Gauff, 6-4, 6(3)-7, 6-2, in the women’s singles final at the 2026 Italian Open on Saturday (16 May).

Dropping the opening game of the first set to the North American superstar, the talented Ukrainian did everything she could to make sure that was a minuscule blip in an otherwise outstanding match, saving 14 of 17 break points faced, while converting six of her own.

Missing out on the second set in tie-break, Svitolina dominated the third. She shut down any hopes of a late comeback for Gauff – whose service struggles reared their ugly head once more, resulting in seven double faults – taking the decisive set in eight games.

“It's very hard to believe it's been eight years since I had this trophy,” said the triumphant 31-year-old after the match. “[I’m] very pleased with the two weeks here."

Earning her fifth WTA 1000-level tournament victory, she joined Poland’s Iga Świątek and superstar Maria Sharapova in the three-time winner’s club at the Foro Italico.

Her run to the title was made all the more impressive by the accompanying giant-slaying campaign, which included wins over world No. 2 Elena Rybakina, world No. 3 Świątek and world No. 4 Gauff.

Svitolina also extended her clay-court finals record to 8-0, building a strong history of clay success mere weeks ahead of the 2026 French Open, where she’ll look to run the draw in similar fashion en route to her first-ever Grand Slam singles title.

More to follow…

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