ROME/WASHINGTON, May 16, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)
Saturday evening’s WTA 1000 Internazionali BNL d’Italia final did not provide the No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka versus No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina matchup that many had hoped for. However, it did offer a pair of Top-10 foes in No. 3 seed Coco Gauff of the United States and No. 7 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine. It made for a pretty quality offering – even if the start of the title match was delayed by an hour due to rain that blanketed Foro Italico.
While the American No. 1 Gauff had yet to win the champion’s trophy in the Eternal City, she was a finalist last year. Meanwhile, the World No. 10 Svitolina hadn’t been to the Rome final in eight years, but she had won the title twice and knew how to succeed in the Italian capital city. She was also competing for her 20th career title, while Gauff, nine years younger, was in search of her 12th.
As it happened, Svitolina won her third Italian Open title – first time winning it in Rome as a mother – and, at age 31, the Ukrainian star showed why she’s playing some of the best tennis of her life. She defeated Gauff, 6-4, 6-7 (3) 6-2, in two hours and 49 minutes.
Skaï is the limit 🏆@ElinaSvitolina becomes the third comeback mother to win a WTA 1000 title after Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka!#IBI26 | @WTA pic.twitter.com/eVjNqgIBLC
— Internazionali BNL d’Italia (@InteBNLdItalia) May 16, 2026
In back-to-back-to-back matches this week, Svitolina dispatched World No. 2 Rybakina in the quarterfinals round, World No. 3 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals and World No. 4 Gauff in the title match. From first ball to last, she played fearless tennis. It’s no surprise that she’s 8-0 lifetime in clay finals.
At a set each, in a final that had seen many swings of momentum, Svitolina broke Gauff’s serve in the fifth game of the decider to push ahead 3-2. It was her fifth break of Gauff’s serve in 12 tries. Next, she consolidated the break to grab a 4-2 lead, needing to only hold her serve two more times.
Then, Svitolina aided her own cause by breaking Gauff’s serve for the sixth time and it provided her with an insurmountable 5-2 lead. She raised her left fist in jubilation, while Gauff looked dejectedly at the red-brick clay while strolling slowly back to her bench for the last changeover of the final.
Soon, serving for the title, Svitolina put away the game, set and match – and captured her third Rome title – on her third championship point. It was a dazzling seven-shot, back-and-forth rally that ended the two-hour, 49-minute final on Campo Centrale.
A title run for the AGES from @ElinaSvitolina 🏆
✅ World No.2 Rybakina (QF)
✅ World No.3 Swiatek (SF)
✅ World No.4 Gauff (F)#IBI26 | @WTA pic.twitter.com/TMbWtbJDK9— Internazionali BNL d’Italia (@InteBNLdItalia) May 16, 2026
It was Svitolina’s fifth WTA 1000 title as well as her 20th career WTA title – and second one of this season after winning Auckland in January.
While Svitolina came in leading her head-to-head against Gauff 3-2, the championship final at Foro Italico was their first meeting on clay. Three of their five meetings have come in majors and Rome represented their third meeting this year. Earlier, Svitolina defeated Gauff in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open in January, then beat her in the semifinals at Dubai in February. Now, with the Rome crown secured, she’s 3-0 against Gauff in 2026.
Svitolina finished the final with 38 winners to offset her 62 unforced errors, compared with 36 winners by Gauff and 67 unforced errors. Svitolina converted six of 15 break points, saved 14 of 17 break points she faced and outpointed Gauff 127-115.
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The Rome final against Svitolina was Gauff’s last tune-up before she’s off to defend her French Open title in Paris. The second Grand Slam event of the 2026 season begins at Stade Roland-Garros on May 24.
Before falling in the Rome final, Gauff put together five impressive wins, including two against Top-20 opponents. She bookended a pair of straight-set wins against Tereza Valentova of Czechia and No. 26 seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania with a trio of three-set triumphs over Solana Sierra of Argentina, No. 16 seed Iva Jovic of the United States and No. 8 seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia.
“Definitely gives me a lot of confidence because I also played some players who are having great clay court seasons and great seasons in general,” Gauff said during her post-match news conference, after defeating Cirstea in the semifinal round. “I feel like my game is getting better. There are moments that I still can fine-tune and do better at. I definitely think it’s in the right direction.”
Plotting their next final… Paris? 😉🇫🇷@ElinaSvitolina | @CocoGauff | #IBI26 pic.twitter.com/rIsEY3unGe
— Internazionali BNL d’Italia (@InteBNLdItalia) May 16, 2026
Meanwhile, Svitolina, advanced with a trio of straight-set wins over Noemi Basiletti of Italy, Hailey Baptiste of the United States and Nikola Bartunkova of Czechia. Then, she saved 11 of 16 break points against Swiatek during her semifinal three-set semifinal victory Thursday night, after saving 16 of 20 break points to beat Rybakina in the quarterfinal round. Both of those wins went three sets.
“Back-to-back great wins,” Svitolina said after defeating Swiatek Thursday night. “In general, just [a] great performance. Very happy to be in the finals here again, to get a chance to play, yeah, the finals, and hopefully to get a trophy. …
“I think it’s been going well for me. For me it’s important to improve myself, improve my game, my mentality, to be at the top, and to play these kinds of players and beat them.
“That’s always been a goal for me. I’m happy that it’s working now. I try to really build on that.”
The moment ✨#IBI26 pic.twitter.com/pCooEMQkgn
— Internazionali BNL d’Italia (@InteBNLdItalia) May 16, 2026
After receiving her champion’s trophy, Svitolina was all smiles as she spoke. After all, she had just become the fifth woman to win the Rome title three times. The others: Conchita Martinez, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Swiatek. Pretty good company, which includes two current hall of fame greats and two others destined to make it to the International Tennis Hall of Fame one day.
“It’s very hard to believe that it’s been eight years since I held this trophy,” Svitolina said. “Very very pleased with the two weeks here. I want to say congrats to Coco for a great tournament and for your team as well. You’re such a great champion. Hopefully we’ll have more battles in the future.”
Later, during her champion’s news conference, Svitolina said: “Definitely was an extremely tough battle. I’m very happy with the way I could handle my nerves, not only today but also throughout this tournament. I think the two weeks, it’s been tough, but I’m very happy with the way I’ve been playing, the way my body been reacting on these tough matches. Just very proud of the effort.”
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By the numbers
Since the WTA 1000 format began in 2009, only one American has won a WTA 1000 event on clay, Serena Williams at Rome in 2016.
“Quotable …”
“I think I used to get caught up in the point system and things like that, just trying to defend.
“Now when you really think about it, the season is from January to November. If you’re doing the right things on the practice court and on court, and you’re healthy, you have the chance to win those points throughout the year.
“Now when I go into Roland-Garros, I’m not even thinking about ranking or anything. I want to make sure I mentally approach that tournament in the correct way. If I lose first round, I mentally give it my all, it’s okay, I learned from it.
“I definitely don’t want to be thinking about what if, what if I lose or what if I this. I just want to take it one match at a time.”
– World No. 4 Coco Gauff of the United States, during her post-match news conference on Thursday, speaking about the current WTA Rankings points system and defending her points as defending Roland-Garros champion.
