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Elina Svitolina shared a very classy message to Coco Gauff following their Auckland final, congratulating the 19-year-old on landing the title and wishing her all the best at the upcoming Australian Open.
Svitolina, who was seeded at No. 2, fell just short of winning Auckland in her tournament debut. On Sunday, top-seeded Gauff came back from a set down to beat Svitolina 6-7 (4) 6-3 6-3.
Although Svitolina was disappointed not to have won the final, she was still positive about her Auckland debut and vowed to return to the tournament in the future.
“I want to congratulate Coco and her team for the great start of the year. Good luck at the Australian Open... Tough loss today of course. I hope I can come back next year to play more tennis here," Svitolina said after the final.
Svitolina loses to Gauff in three sets
Gauff claimed the first break of the match in the fourth but Svitolina instantly managed to get the break back in the following game. After blowing an early break, Gauff broke Svitolina again in the eighth game for a 5-3 lead.
Just when it seemed the first set was over, Gauff missed out on two consecutive set points in her serve in the 10th game as Svitolina managed to break back and ultimately force a tie-break. In the tie-break, Svitolina opened a 6-2 lead before converting her third set point to complete the stealing of the first set from Gauff.
After losing the first set in a disappointing way, Gauff bounced back at the start of the second set by breaking Svitolina in the first and seventh games for a 5-2 lead. Gauff didn't manage to serve out for the second set in the eighth game but won the set in the following game after breaking Svitolina for the third time in the set.
In the third set, the first break of the set was seen in the eighth game, when Gauff broke Svitolina to go 5-3 up. Serving for the match in the ninth game, Gauff faced and saved a break point before realizing her first match point to complete a comevack win over Svitolina.