Coco Gauff continues the mastery in Auckland, setting the final with Elina Svitolina

Coco Gauff will defend her Auckland Classic title against Elina Svitolina after beating compatriot Emma Navarro 6-3, 6-1 in their semi-final on Saturday. Gauff needed just 62 minutes to get past fourth-placed Navarro and has now won 18 consecutive sets and nine consecutive matches in two years in Auckland. She has lost just 15 games in four so far this year.

Gauff's victory in Auckland last year was the start of a golden run that culminated when she won her first major title at the US Open. She appears to be in similar compelling form this year, dominating matches with her serve and powerful ground shots, posting 10 aces in 12 matches in beating Navarro.

“It's a good start to my 2024,” Gauff said. “Emma is a great player. We played against each other when I was 12 years old and she was 15, so it's the second time we've played since then. So it's really cool to play on this stage. I wish her the best for the rest of the season.”

The 19-year-old Gauff delivered a controlled and dominant performance. Her deep ground shots allowed her to track the net, where she dominated and used her powerful forehand with precision. “I'm just aggressive with my serve and returns,” she said. “We played one set here in practice before the tournament started and she played really well, so I think I knew I had to be at my best to win.”

Gauff's opponent in Sunday's final will be second-seeded Svitolina, who needed two medical timeouts en route to a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Wang Xiyu of China.

Svitolina dropped her serve in the third game of the first set and again, love it, in the fifth game to trail 4-1. She was treated for a lower back injury and then left the court for a medical timeout. When she returned, she immediately broke Wang's serve, but lost her own serve and lost the set 6–2.

Svitolina took the second set with a lone break in the 10th game. She called for another medical timeout at the start of the third set, but returned to hold serve and break Wang for a 3-1 and 5-1 lead. Wang broke back in the seventh game, but Svitolina rallied to serve out the set in the ninth game, which featured two aces.