By the numbers: Four hours later in Auckland, Wang and Svitolina move on

It was a long Saturday night in Auckland, where the two semifinal matches stretched a combined 4 hours and 22 minutes and wrapped around 10:30 p.m. local time.

Auckland: Scores | Draws | Order of play

The night opened with a three-set rollercoaster between No. 4 seed Alexandra Eala and No. 7 seed Wang Xinyu. Wang came from a set down, saved a match point in the second set and ultimately prevailed 5-7, 7-5, 6-4 in just under three hours.

“It was a crazy battle from the start to the end, for sure,” Wang said after the match. “She’s an absolute fighter, and to be honest, I feel more pressure when I’m up 5-0 than when we were love-love. I’m just really happy that I got through this one today and through to my first ever final (here).”

The match swung wildly as both players chased a spot in just their second WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz final. Wang raced ahead 4-0 and then 5-1 in the opening set, only for Eala to reel off six straight games to steal it.

Wang again broke to start the second set and built a 2-0 lead. Down 3-2, Eala responded with three straight games for a 5-3 advantage. She held match point in that game, but a string of unforced errors opened the door for Wang, who swept the next four games to force a decider.

Wang carried that momentum into the third set, winning the first four games for a commanding lead. Eala clawed back to trim the deficit to 5-4, but Wang closed out the match with one final hold, securing victory thanks to timely shot making and help in the form of more untimely errors off Eala’s racket.

Here are some numbers from Wang’s semifinal win:

1: Match point saved by Wang. It came on Eala’s serve at 7-5, 5-3, when Eala pushed a forehand long. Two more forehands sailed long later in the game, giving Wang a break point. Another unforced error by Eala handed Wang the break -- the first of four straight games she won to take the second set.

2: Second career final for Wang. Her lone previous final came on grass at the WTA 500 in Berlin last June, where she fell to Marketa Vondrousova in three sets. She entered Saturday’s match with a 1-10 record in semifinals in her career.

10: Aces for Wang on Saturday. She has 23 for the tournament, the most of any player.

34: Combined break points in the match. Eala earned more chances (19 to 15), but Wang converted at a higher rate (7-for-15 compared with Eala’s 6-of-19).

95: Points played after Eala held her match point. Wang won 54 of them; Eala won 41.

Experience prevails as Svitolina pulls away from Jovic

The match that followed between No. 1 seed Elina Svitolina and No. 3 Iva Jovic was equally chaotic, at least in the opening set. 

The 18-year-old American jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the 31-year-old Ukrainian rallied to claim the set in a tiebreak. The second set proved more straightforward: Svitolina dropped the opening game, then won six of the last seven en route for a 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory in 1 hour and 34 minutes to reach the ASB Classic final and set up a meeting with Wang.

In the process, she denied Jovic the chance to compete in her second WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz final but still took a moment to praise the teenager after the match.

“We practiced together before the tournament, so I knew what to expect from her,” Svitolina said in her on-court interview. “Even then, she’s really surprised me with the way she’s striking the ball and moving really well.

“Many, many more titles for her to come, definitely in the future.”

While many agree Jovic has a bright future, she has plenty of ground to make up before matching the résumé of the former WTA Finals champion. Svitolina will be seeking title No. 19 when she faces Wang on Sunday.

But first, here are some numbers pertaining to Svitolina’s semifinal victory:

2: Second Auckland final for Svitolina, who last reached the final at the event in 2024, when she lost to Coco Gauff in three sets. 

Sunday’s final will also be her second meeting with Wang; she won their previous matchup in straight sets in the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2024, dropping just three games.

3: Aces for Svitolina. The number may not jump off the page, but two of them came in the final game of the match.

4: Svitolina entered the tournament on a four-match losing streak. With wins over Varvara Gracheva, Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal and Jovic, she has flipped that into a four-match winning streak and will look to extend it to five on Sunday.

23: Career finals for Svitolina. She owns 18 titles in her previous 22 finals, a winning percentage of nearly 82%.

65: Percentage of first-serve points won by Svitolina, who outpaced Jovic by 10 percentage points. She had an even larger edge in second-serve points won (49% to 35%).