Svitolina sees off Gauff to win Italian Open, Sinner in men's title showdown
Jannik Sinner reached the final of the Italian Open on Saturday (Tiziana FABI) Elina Svitolina won the Italian Open on Saturday after beating Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2 to claim her third Rome title, while Jannik Sinner set a date with Casper Ruud in the men's final. Ukraine's Svitolina hadn't claimed a WTA 1000 title since her last victory at the Foro Italico eight years ago but prevailed over the ever-erratic Gauff. The seventh seed was unspectacular but solid all tournament and her reliable style allowed her to claim her 20th tournament triumph.
American star Gauff, a two-time Grand Slam champion, was aiming to become the first American to win in the Italian capital since Serena Williams in 2016. Gauff had been strong favourite to go one better here than last year, when she was beaten by Jasmine Paolini, but the problems with her serve which have so long dogged her game began to resurface on centre court. Her serve was broken three times by Svitolina on her way to losing the first set, thanks in part to four double-faults, two of which came in the game which allowed her opponent to move ahead in the match.
At 5-4 down she hit a bizarre second serve which flew into the wrong side of the court, before gifting Svitolina the advantage by another double-fault at set point. A livid Gauff then smacked herself on the head with her own racket before storming down the tunnel, emerging shortly afterwards to have a heated discussion with her coach Jean-Christophe Faurel. That talking to seemed to turn things around as Gauff got a handle on her serve in a hard-fought second set which featured some fun rallies, particularly as she won the tie-break.
But two more breaks of serve cost Gauff her first tournament win of the season with her French Open title defence starting next weekend. - Sinner in title showdown - Sinner finished off Daniil Medvedev in Saturday's closing chapter of an enthralling last-four clash, which was paused overnight due to rain in Rome. The world number one could claim a record-extending sixth consecutive Masters 1000 title on Sunday thanks to a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 win which had almost everything over the course of its two-and-a-half hours.
Sinner had to have treatment on his right thigh and even vomited during Friday night's leg of the semi-final as Medvedev gave the Italian by far his toughest test of the tournament. But he looked in much better spirits before the restart as he joked and played football with his coaching team during his warm-up in the bowels of the centre court arena, just as warm spring sunshine started to shine after a few days of volatile weather. "I think it's normal that not every day we feel 100 percent," Sinner told reporters.