Top seeds Gauff, Svitolina to clash in Auckland Classic final

Gauff will try to defend the title she won last year

US Open champion Coco Gauff maintained her imperious form in the lead-up to the Australia Open by dismantling Emma Navarro 6-3, 6-1 in the semi-finals of the Auckland Classic on Saturday.

Gauff, world number three and top seed, will defend the title she won a year ago against number two seed Elina Svitolina, who defied a back injury to beat Wang Xiyu.

The Ukrainian needed two medical timeouts before fighting back to beat her unseeded Chinese opponent 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Gauff will be the fresher of the two finalists having not dropped a set all week and racing past fourth seed Navarro in a display that highlighted all her attacking weapons.

Read full story on sport.timesofmalta.com

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