In their finals on Saturday and Sunday, Elina Svitolina and Jannik Sinner each managed to encapsulate their two-week Rome title runs with one late-match moment of brilliance.
Svitolina’s came when she was up 4-2 in the third against Coco Gauff and trying to clinch an insurance break. Gauff took control of a rally, began moving Svitolina from one sideline to the other, and seemed to have the point won. But Svitolina did what she’d being doing throughout the tournament: She scrambled with maximum determination, first tracking down a backhand, then crossing the court to get a forehand, and then crossing the court again, just in time to fire a backhand pass from outside the doubles alley for a jolting, crowd-pleasing winner.
It was exactly the type of willful desperation, combined with unflagging energy, that had helped Svitolina to three-set wins over No. 3 seed Iga Swiatek, No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina, and, a few minutes later, the fourth-seeded Gauff.
“It’s just the fighting spirit that I have,” Svitolina, 31, said after her 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-2 win, which gave her a third title in Rome, eight years after her last one. “I try to bring it in the important moments. Sometimes when your opponent is playing great, you need to be ready for fighting.”
