AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — Coco Gauff will defend her title on the Auckland Basic in opposition to Elina Svitolina after beating fellow American Emma Navarro 6-3, 6-1 in a semifinal Saturday.
Gauff wanted solely 62 minutes to brush previous fourth-seeded Navarro and now has received 18 straight units and 9 consecutive matches over two years in Auckland. She has misplaced solely 15 video games in 4 matches thus far this 12 months.
Gauff’s win in Auckland final 12 months was the beginning of a golden run which culminated when she received her first main title on the U.S. Open. She appears in related, compelling kind this 12 months, dominating matches along with her serve and highly effective floor pictures.
She set down 10 aces in 12 video games in beating Navarro.
“It’s a very good begin to my 2024,” Gauff mentioned. “Emma’s an ideal participant. We’ve performed one another after I was like 12 years outdated and he or she was 15 so it’s our second time enjoying since then. So it’s actually cool to play on this stage. I want her one of the best for the remainder of the season.”
Gauff is nineteen, Navarro 22.
Gauff broke Navarro within the opening recreation of the second set and went on to win the set in 32 minutes in a managed and dominating efficiency. Her deep floor pictures allowed her to observe to the online the place she dominated and used her highly effective forehand with accuracy.
“I’m simply being aggressive with my serve and return,” Gauff mentioned. “We performed one set in follow over right here earlier than the event started and he or she was enjoying very well so I believe I knew I needed to be at my finest to have the ability to win.”
Gauff’s opponent in Sunday’s closing might be second-seeded Svitolina, who wanted two medical timeouts on her method to a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Wang Xiyu of China.
Svitolina dropped her serve within the third recreation of the primary set and once more, to like, within the fifth recreation to path 4-1.
She acquired courtside therapy for a decrease again harm then left the courtroom for a medical timeout. When she returned, she instantly broke Wang’s serve however misplaced her personal and misplaced the set 6-2.
Svitolina took the second set with a solitary break within the tenth recreation. She referred to as for an additional medical timeout at first of the third set however returned to carry serve and to interrupt Wang for 3-1 and 5-1 leads.
Wang broke again within the seventh recreation however Svitolina rallied and served out the set within the ninth recreation which included two aces.
