Elina Svitolina survived a 3-hour, 3-minute semifinal to defeat Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-7 (13), 6-4 and advance to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships final. The two-time Dubai champion required six match points to finally close out the match and will meet Jessica Pegula for the title.

“Fight like Ukraine” was how Elina Svitolina signed the camera after a three-hour, three-minute battle with Coco Gauff, and fight she did to ultimately emerge victorious, 6-4, 6-7 (13), 6-4, and reach the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships final.

On court after the match Svitolina reflected on what drives her resilience. “It’s very special to see so many flags,” Svitolina said on court after the match. “I’m fighting all the time, and when I’m down and I feel all those emotions, I try to keep in my mind that there are really difficult times that Ukraine is going through. I’m really lucky to be here performing and representing Ukraine, so I try to do it in a decent way.”

Svitolina overcame the disappointment of losing four match points in the second-set tiebreaker and reversed the momentum late in the decider. The turning moment arrived in the penultimate game when she won a marathon point, then secured her sixth break of the match to seal the victory just over three hours after the start.

“Coco is such a big fighter,” praised Svitolina, who will next face Gauff’s countrywoman Jessica Pegula in the final “I was expecting that she would come back in the match. She’s won so many big finals, big tournaments. For sure, I had to keep fighting to keep pushing and I was just trying to win that match. I’m very pleased with the fight and very pleased with the win today.”

Standing between Svitolina and a WTA 1000 title is Pegula, who advanced after her own semifinal victory over Amanda Anisimova. Pegula came back from a set and a break down to maintain a perfect 5-0 head-to-head against last year’s Wimbledon and US Open finalist and move into the championship match. “It’s really, really special to be in the final again after a few years, of course, and to have another chance to lift that beautiful trophy,” said Svitolina, who returned to the Top 10 for the first time since becoming a mother earlier this year.

Jessica Pegula once again found a way past Amanda Anisimova, recovering from a lopsided opening to reach the title match at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. After dropping nine of the first 11 games and missing a 0-40 opportunity to break her countrywoman, Pegula surged to a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory and extended her head-to-head edge to 5-0.

“When you come out slow against Amanda, she can really just wipe you off the court, which is what she was doing,” Pegula reflected during her on-court interview after winning two more total points in the contest.

“I had some break points in the first set, even though it was convincingly the other way, and I knew I could get some break points back. That’s really all I was focusing on.”

The 31-year-old Buffalo native is a win away from her first WTA 1000 title since August 2024. Pegula has started the 2026 season 12-2 and has collected three Top 10 wins so far this year, all against fellow Americans. Those victories include ousting the reigning champion Madison Keys in Melbourne before her Australian Open win over Anisimova.

All three of Pegula’s previous WTA 1000 titles came on hard courts in North America: Guadalajara in 2022, Montréal in 2023 and Toronto in 2024. Seeded No. 4 in Dubai, she is seeking to halt a three-match losing streak in 1000-level finals; her most recent runner-up finish came against Coco Gauff in Wuhan last October.

Pegula’s comeback on Friday combined steadier serving and a willingness to extend rallies, turning a match that looked headed one way into a decisive win. With the Dubai final ahead, she will look to convert that momentum into a WTA 1000 crown.

Coco Gauff moved into the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships with a commanding win over Alexandra Eala, following a draining three-set victory the day before.

After surviving Elise Mertens on Thursday, 2-6, 7-6 (9), 6-3, Gauff returned on Friday and closed out her quarterfinal in 67 minutes, 6-0, 6-2. The result sends her into the last four of the WTA 1000 event and marks a strong rebound after her narrow escape the previous day.

“It was a bit better today,” Gauff said in her on-court interview. “I could have served a little bit better, but I made it in when it mattered.

“Alex is a tough competitor. Even when I was up I knew that she could come back at any given moment—I’ve seen her do it before.”

The victory brings a pair of milestones into sharper relief. It is Gauff’s second trip to the Dubai semifinals and her 13th appearance in the semifinal stage of a WTA 1000 tournament. The match also highlights a striking trend: Gauff has won 16 of her last 17 matches versus left-handed opponents.

Her most recent defeat to a lefty came against Diana Shnaider in Toronto in 2024. The loss prior to that dates back to 2021, when she fell to Angelique Kerber in the fourth round at Wimbledon.

GAUFF VS LEFTIES SINCE START OF 2022: 16-1

She is also 32-4 in sets over that span, underscoring consistent control rather than isolated wins. Gauff will carry that form into the semifinals as she seeks to convert the momentum from a decisive performance over Eala and the resilience shown against Mertens into a deeper run at the Dubai WTA 1000 event.

© 2026 Robert Prange