{"id":67673,"date":"2026-05-16T16:22:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T20:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/ukrainian-tennis-star-defeats-american-champion-for-rome-tournament-victory\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T16:22:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T20:22:31","slug":"ukrainian-tennis-star-defeats-american-champion-for-rome-tournament-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/ukrainian-tennis-star-defeats-american-champion-for-rome-tournament-victory\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukrainian Tennis Star Defeats American Champion for Rome Tournament Victory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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ROME, May 16 – Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina demonstrated her preparation for the upcoming French Open by defeating world number four Coco Gauff 6-4 6-7(3) 6-2 during Saturday’s Italian Open championship match, capturing her first clay court tournament victory this season before Roland Garros begins.<\/p>

The Ukrainian competitor recovered from being behind twice in the opening set to even the score at 4-4, then maintained her composure during grueling exchanges to take the lead in the ninth game through aggressive shot-making.<\/p>

Several poorly-timed double faults by Gauff during the following game handed Svitolina the first set, and the 31-year-old increased her aggressive play late in the second set as she approached her third Rome championship.<\/p>

The current Roland Garros titleholder Gauff persevered until the score reached 5-5 in the second set, then secured a break with an instinctive net volley after a ball that touched the net cord disrupted Svitolina’s positioning and caused an unsuccessful return.<\/p>

Gauff’s momentum proved brief as Svitolina immediately broke serve again, though the American elevated her performance during the tiebreak to force a third and final set, where both players remained closely matched through the first four games.<\/p>

A backhand mistake by Gauff allowed Svitolina to capture a crucial break in the fifth game, and the Ukrainian struck again for a second break advantage before maintaining her composure during a dramatic conclusion to claim victory on her third match point.<\/p>

Svitolina will next attempt to capture her first Grand Slam championship at the French Open, which begins in Paris on May 24.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Elina Svitolina overcame world number four Coco Gauff in a thrilling three-set match to claim her third Italian Open championship. The Ukrainian player’s victory serves as preparation for the upcoming French Open tournament later this month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":67672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[836],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1778962950663.jpg?fit=450%2C307&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbtNqq-hBv","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":74496,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/svitolina-defeats-bencic-in-three-sets-to-advance-at-french-open\/","url_meta":{"origin":67673,"position":0},"title":"Svitolina Defeats Bencic in Three Sets to Advance at French Open","author":"Admin","date":"May 31, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina overcame a slow start to defeat Switzerland's Belinda Bencic 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the French Open fourth round on Sunday. 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