Svitolina wins Dubai marathon to set up Pegula final after Gauff thriller

Elina Svitolina reached her first WTA 1000 final in eight years and her third in Dubai after overcoming Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-7(13), 6-4 in a physical three-hour battle on Friday evening.

The world No 9 and seventh seed delivered one of the most resilient performances of her career to deny Gauff an all-American final. In a high-stakes second-set tiebreak – the longest on the WTA Tour in 2026 – Svitolina saw four match points evaporate as the 21-year-old American survived 15-13 to force a decider.

Despite the emotional toll, the 31-year-old Ukrainian regained her composure, saving multiple critical break points at 4-4 in the third set before breaking Gauff in the final game. Svitolina now leads their head-to-head 3-2 and has reached her 24th WTA final, her first at the 1000-level since winning Rome in 2018 and her first since becoming a mother.

“Very special to see so many flags,” Svitolina told the Ukrainian fans in the stands. “For me I’m fighting all the time when I’m down. When I feel all the emotions, I try to keep in my mind the really difficult times that Ukraine is going through. I’m very lucky to be here performing and representing Ukraine. I try to do it in a decent way.”

With this victory, Svitolina has won 24 matches in Dubai, the most in the tournament’s history, surpassing legends like Caroline Wozniacki (22) and Venus Williams (19). She will face world No 5 Jessica Pegula in Saturday’s final. Pegula reached her eighth career WTA 1000 final earlier in the day by rallying from 1-6, 1-3 down to defeat second-seeded Amanda Anisimova 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Pegula, who turns 32 on Monday, extended her perfect record against Anisimova to 5-0 to reach her 21st career final. Svitolina, a two-time Dubai champion in 2017 and 2018, is aiming to become the first three-time winner since Justine Henin.

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