Coco Gauff to Face Elina Svitolina in WTA Auckland Classic Final

Coco Gauff of the United States throws her racket in the air during her semifinal match against compatriot Emma Navarro at the ASB Tennis Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024. (Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)
Coco Gauff of the United States throws her racket in the air during her semifinal match against compatriot Emma Navarro at the ASB Tennis Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024. (Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)
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Coco Gauff to Face Elina Svitolina in WTA Auckland Classic Final

Coco Gauff of the United States throws her racket in the air during her semifinal match against compatriot Emma Navarro at the ASB Tennis Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024. (Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)
Coco Gauff of the United States throws her racket in the air during her semifinal match against compatriot Emma Navarro at the ASB Tennis Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024. (Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)

Coco Gauff will defend her title at the Auckland Classic against Elina Svitolina after beating fellow American Emma Navarro 6-3, 6-1 in a semifinal Saturday.
Gauff needed only 62 minutes to sweep past fourth-seeded Navarro and now has won 18 straight sets and nine consecutive matches over two years in Auckland. She has lost only 15 games in four matches so far this year.
Gauff’s win in Auckland last year was the start of a golden run which culminated when she won her first major title at the U.S. Open. She seems in similar, compelling form this year, dominating matches with her serve and powerful ground shots.
She set down 10 aces in 12 games in beating Navarro.
“It’s a good start to my 2024,” Gauff said. “Emma's a great player. We’ve played each other when I was like 12 years old and she was 15 so it’s our second time playing since then. So it’s really cool to play on this stage. I wish her the best for the rest of the season.”
Gauff is 19, Navarro 22.
Gauff broke Navarro in the opening game of the second set and went on to win the set in 32 minutes in a controlled and dominating performance. Her deep ground shots allowed her to follow to the net where she dominated and used her powerful forehand with accuracy.
“I’m just being aggressive with my serve and return,” The Associated Press quoted Gauff as saying. “We played one set in practice over here before the tournament began and she was playing really well so I think I knew I had to be at my best to be able to win.”
Gauff’s opponent in Sunday’s final will be second-seeded Svitolina, who needed two medical timeouts on her way 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, to love, in the fifth game to trail 4-1.
She received courtside treatment for a lower back injury then left the court for a medical timeout. When she returned, she immediately broke Wang’s serve but lost her own and lost the set 6-2.
Svitolina took the second set with a solitary break in the 10th game. She called for another medical timeout at the start of the third set but returned to hold serve and to break Wang for 3-1 and 5-1 leads.
Wang broke back in the seventh game but Svitolina rallied and served out the set in the ninth game which included two aces.



Yamaha’s Quartararo Denies Marquez His Home Spanish MotoGP Pole

 Team Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo rides during a practice session of the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix at the Jerez racetrack in Jerez de la Frontera, on April 26, 2025. (AFP)
Team Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo rides during a practice session of the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix at the Jerez racetrack in Jerez de la Frontera, on April 26, 2025. (AFP)
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Yamaha’s Quartararo Denies Marquez His Home Spanish MotoGP Pole

 Team Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo rides during a practice session of the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix at the Jerez racetrack in Jerez de la Frontera, on April 26, 2025. (AFP)
Team Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo rides during a practice session of the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix at the Jerez racetrack in Jerez de la Frontera, on April 26, 2025. (AFP)

Frenchman Fabio Quartararo beat crowd favorite and six-times MotoGP champion Marc Marquez to take pole position at the Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix at the Circuito de Jerez on Saturday, where the lap record was broken twice.

Championship leader Marquez looked on course for a fifth successive pole after he sped to a time of one minute and 35.643 seconds early in the second qualifying, but Quartararo put on a blistering lap in the final moments to stun the Ducati rider.

The 26-year-old Yamaha rider clocked a time of one minute and 35.610 seconds to take his first pole since 2022.

Twice MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia came third to complete the front row.

"It's a really special feeling, a special emotion for everybody," Quartararo said.

"We know that the points are on the sprint and the race, but already to feel the atmosphere close to all these guys is something.

"Hopefully, we can make a great fight on the sprint, on the race we know it's a little more difficult. But super happy to be here. We are working hard and the work will pay off."

Gresini's Alex Marquez was the fourth fastest, ahead of Franco Morbidelli of VR46 Racing in fifth.

Marquez leads his younger brother Alex by 17 points in the championship and Italian Bagnaia in third by 26. He has the opportunity to stretch it further in the sprint, which will be held later on Saturday.