Svitolina powers to Auckland title in Australian Open warm-up / Photo: Michael Bradley - AFP
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Svitolina powers to Auckland title in Australian Open warm-up
Top seed Elena Svitolina powered to a straight-sets victory over China's Wang Xinyu in the Auckland Classic final Sunday in an impressive display just a week before the Australian Open.
Ukraine's Svitolina won 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) for a 19th career title in a battle between two baseline specialists which featured only one service break.
The world number 13 reached the quarter-finals at Melbourne a year ago, the third time she had made the Australian Open last eight.
Svitolina, 31, was playing her first tournament in four months after choosing to finish the 2025 season early for mental health reasons.
"It definitely feels amazing to win another title and especially after not a very pleasant end of year for me," Svitolina said.
"That break really helped me to regroup and come back with new energy."
The former world number three's has a remarkable record in WTA finals, having won 19 times in her 23 appearances.
It was just the second time for 24-year-old seventh seed Wang had reached a final.
The 57th-ranked player is recovering from injury disruptions over the last two years, having qualified her maiden final on grass in Berlin last year.
V.Merendino--LDdC
