The current No. 10 had to run the gauntlet to conquer Rome, too.
After three quick wins in her first three matches, she battled past three of the Top 4 players on the WTA rankings in the last three rounds, first taking out No. 2 Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, and No. 3 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.
Things looked dicey early on against Gauff in the final, as the world No. 4 jumped out to a 4-2 lead, and even held break points for a 5-2, double-break lead—but Svitolina reeled off the last four games in a row to sneak out the first set.
After 10 straight holds to start the second set, Gauff broke for 6-5, but Svitolina broke right back to take it to a tie-break—but from 3-2 down, the American won five points in a row to send the final to a third set.
After three more holds to open the decider, Svitolina caught fire one last time, winning five games in a row to run away with it, eventually clinching the milestone 50th Top 10 win of her career after two hours and 49 minutes with a reflex volley winner into the open court.
It’s her third career Rome title, having also won in the Italian capital in 2017 and 2018, and her fifth career WTA 1000 title, having won in Dubai and Toronto in 2017, too.
She’s also an incredible 20-5 in her career in WTA finals now.
More to come…
