Coco Gauff and Elina Svitolina advance at the ASB Classic semifinals, setting up a second-ever meeting in finals

Coco Gauff, 19, and Elina Svitolina, 29, won their respective semifinal matches at the 2024 ASB Classic in New Zealand setting up their second-ever meeting in the finals. Svitolina leads the head-to-head matchup 1-0 with a straight-set win at the 2021 Australian Open. That was three years ago, and Gauff is not the same player as she was at 16 years of age just learning to navigate the WTA Tour.

Gauff showed her strength by beating fellow American Emma Navarro in straight sets. There were very few hiccups for Gauff who was intense and ready to take care of business, a brief rain delay was the most significant thing holding Gauff back from winning the match more quickly.

Svitolina's semifinal match was not as smooth. She looked out of sorts in the first set against Xiyu Wang. A medical timeout for her back occurred, and Svitolina went on to lose the first set. She came back to win the final two sets punching her ticket to the finals.

Coco Gauff vs. Elina Svitolina is a dream matchup for the ASB Classic

Gauff is the top seed at the event and has barely been tested. Svitolina is the second seed whose path to the finals has been much more challenging. She scored wins over Carolina Wozniacki and Emma Raducanu along the way.

Gauff is playing with mid-season fearlessness and intensity. Svitolina will need to be at the top of her game physically and mentally to disrupt Gauff's plans to finish as back-to-back champion at the ASB Classic. Svitolina has recaptured her grit and great shotmaking that led her to her career-high ranking of World No. 3, which Gauff currently holds, in September 2017.

The final match will be played at 11:00 PM EST on Saturday, January 6, 2024. It will be telecast live on the Tennis Channel.

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