Elina Svitolina has won the Auckland Open, beating Wang Xinju in the final. -AP
Elina Svitolina was tested by China's Wang Xinyu in the Auckland Open final but came through 6-3 7-6 (6) to kick off her new season with her 19th WTA title.
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The 31-year-old baseliner was not quite firing on all cylinders on Sunday as she continued her preparations for the Australian Open after a lengthy break, but had enough quality and experience to beat her aggressive 24-year-old opponent.
"It feels amazing to win another title especially after a not great end to last season," said Ukrainian Svitolina, three times a quarter-finalist at Melbourne Park.
"It was nice to get tough matches here this week and win the final. Hopefully we can build on that for the rest of the season."
Wang, playing her second WTA final but still seeking her first title, troubled Svitolina early on with some deep groundstrokes and well-executed drop shots but too often allowed the world number 13 off the hook with simple errors.
Watched from the sidelines by husband Gael Monfils, Svitolina broke for 4-2 lead on the back of a Wang error and served out with an ace to seal the opening set three games later.
World No.57 Wang had three break points in the fourth game of the second set but top seed Svitolina found her first serve when it mattered to get out of trouble.
Breaking Wang again proved a tougher task and the match was decided in a tiebreaker, Svitolina digging deep to rally from 3-0 down and make some amends for losing to Coco Gauff in the 2024 final.
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