Elina Svitolina captured the WTA 1000 title in Rome, defeating Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-2 to claim the biggest trophy of her return as a mother. The victory in the final completed a run that saw Svitolina beat three of the Top 4 players in successive rounds: No. 2 Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals and No. 3 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals, before overcoming the world No. 4 in the championship match.

Svitolina, the current No. 10, produced a gritty performance in the final. Gauff led 4-2 in the opening set and held break points for 5-2, but Svitolina closed out the set with four straight games. The second set featured 10 consecutive holds before Gauff briefly took a 6-5 lead; Svitolina broke back and the pair reached a tiebreak, which Gauff won after rallying from 3-2 down. In the decider, following three holds to open the set, Svitolina ran off five games in a row to take control and sealed the match with a reflex volley into the open court after two hours and 49 minutes.

This is Svitolina’s third Rome title, adding to her wins in 2017 and 2018, and her fifth WTA 1000 title overall, joining Dubai and Toronto from 2017. Since returning to the tour as a mom in 2023, she had previously won three WTA 250 events: Strasbourg in 2023, Rouen in 2025 and Auckland earlier this year. The Rome victory also marked a milestone 50th Top 10 win for her career. Her record in WTA finals now stands at 20-5.

The Rome trophy is the most significant title won by a mother on tour since Victoria Azarenka’s WTA 1000 victory in Cincinnati in 2020.

Two players who began the week without clear final-round form will contest the Rome title after opposite but converging runs. Coco Gauff recovered from a difficult spell that included early exits in Stuttgart and Madrid and off-court distractions to battle through multiple testing matches in Rome. She appeared close to elimination in the third round against Solana Sierra, then produced a comeback against Iva Jovic, survived a three-set match with Mirra Andreeva and delivered a straight-set semifinal over Sorana Cirstea that suggested a return to her Slam-winning level.

Elina Svitolina took a different route. An opening loss in Madrid allowed her an uninterrupted training block she says was crucial. “It was important to prioritize my fitness, my kind of strength, because in such a busy schedule, don’t have so much time to train physically,” Svitolina said. “I really had a good eight days of training. Completely switched off from tennis.” That preparation appears to have paid off: in her two most recent victories she defeated Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek, both seen as contenders for Roland Garros, doing so with composure and renewed confidence under pressure.

Their head-to-head favors Svitolina 3-2; she has already beaten Gauff twice in 2026, including a tight three-setter in Dubai decided 6-4 in the third. Svitolina’s record in finals is notable at 19-5 overall and an unblemished 7-0 on clay. Gauff counters with strong credentials of her own: she is 11-4 in finals, holds two major titles to none for Svitolina, sits six ranking spots higher at No. 4 to No. 10, and has been among the top clay performers of the past decade.

The match will be a study in regained form versus targeted preparation. Both arrive with clear evidence of momentum, and the title likely will hinge on which player sustains intensity and execution under final-match pressure.

Elina Svitolina reached the Internazionali BNL d’Italia final with a hard-fought 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 semifinal win over Iga Swiatek. The two-time Foro Italico champion, victorious at the venue in 2017 and 2018, held firm after a second-set surge from the former world No. 1.

Svitolina had come into the match having survived a two-hour, 24-minute quarterfinal against Elena Rybakina the previous day. Her victory in Rome means she has now beaten the world No. 2 and the world No. 3 in back-to-back matches at the event.

“It’s amazing, the feeling is just unreal,” Svitolina said in an on-court interview. “After so many years, (to be) here again in the final is such an amazing feeling. And to do it in such a great way!”

The first set was narrowly decided, with Swiatek striking just seven winners against 24 unforced errors. Svitolina managed five winners and 12 unforced errors and benefited from the Pole dropping serve three times in the opener. Swiatek regrouped in the second set, opening 3-0 with a double break and raising her first-serve percentage from 52 percent in the first set to 81 percent in the second.

Svitolina’s defence carried her through the decider. She saved three break points in the opening game and then broke Swiatek to move ahead 3-0, a lead the Pole could not overturn.

The result leaves Swiatek without a title in 2026 and without a red-clay final this season ahead of Roland Garros. For Svitolina, the win sends her into her third final of 2026 and her second at the WTA 1000 level. She began the season by winning Auckland and was later runner-up in Dubai, where she lost to Jessica Pegula in the final.

Awaiting Svitolina on Saturday is world No. 4 Coco Gauff, who defeated No. 26 seed Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 6-3 to reach the final.