Svitolina starts 2026 on right foot, wins Auckland for title No. 19
Elina Svitolina defeated No. 7 seed Xinyu Wang 6-3, 7-6 (6) in 1 hour and 42 minutes on Sunday in Auckland to win the ASB Classic.
The 31-year-old captured her 19th career title, improving her record in WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz finals to a robust 19-4 -- a winning percentage just shy of 83%.
Svitolina entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed and looking to reset after her 2025 season ended with four straight losses and an injury that cut her year short following the Billie Jean King Cup Finals. Mission accomplished. She turned that four-match skid into a five-match winning streak to open 2026, highlighted by victories over former Top 30 player Katie Boulter in the second round and soon-to-be Top 30 player Iva Jovic (when the rankings update Monday) in the semifinals.
"It definitely feels amazing to win another title, especially after a not very pleasant end of the year for me," Svitolina said in her on-court interview. "But that break really helped me to regroup and come back with a new energy and I'm very happy that I got the title here."
With the victory, Svitolina is projected to rise one spot to No. 12 in the PIF WTA Rankings as she continues to push toward a Top 10 return. The 250 points she earned in Auckland could prove valuable with quarterfinal points to defend later this month at the Australian Open.
But if she maintains this level, another deep run in Melbourne is well within reach. Her performance Sunday was more than enough to overpower Wang, particularly on serve. The Ukrainian faced four break points, saved them all and won 74% of her first-serve points.
On return, she broke Wang for a 4-2 lead and closed out the opening set in just over a half hour. It proved to be the only break she needed -- and the only break of the match, as Svitolina sealed her straight-sets win in a second-set tiebreak.
Despite the loss, Wang leaves Auckland with plenty to build on and a significant rankings boost. After dropping her opening set of the week to Caty McNally, she rebounded to reach her second career final, a run that included a semifinal win over fan favorite Alexandra Eala.
Wang will return to the Top 50 at No. 43 on Monday, up from No. 57 to start the week.