On Sunday, January 11, Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina (13th in the WTA rankings), who spent millions on a gift for her father, became the winner of the WTA 250 tournament in Auckland (New Zealand).
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In the final match, the 31-year-old Odessa woman defeated the vice-champion of the 2024 Olympic Games in mixed doubles and the winner of Roland Garros 2023 in doubles, 24-year-old Chinese Wang Xinyu, 6:3, 7:6 (6) in 1 hour and 44 minutes.
The triumph in New Zealand brought Svitolina $37,390 in “dirty” money.
Recall that on the way to the final, the Ukrainian defeated former Russian Varvara Gracheva (75th), who now represents France, 6:3, 6:1, Briton Katie Boulter (112th) 7:5, 6:4 and Sonay Kartal (68th) 6:4, 6:7, 7:6, as well as American Iva Jovic (35th) 7:6, 6:2.
“It's definitely an incredible feeling to win another title, especially after a not-so-pleasant end to the year for me,” said Elina Svitolina . “But, you know, this break really helped me to recharge and come back with new energy, and I'm really happy to be able to win the trophy here.”
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I think I've been in different situations in my career, but this one was special because my husband won here last year. He said to me, “If you don't win this year, I don't know what to tell you.”
pic.twitter.com/qrpOfG719Z
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 11, 2026
By the way, Elina herself played in the Auckland final in 2024, but then lost to American Coco Gauff.
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Overall, Svitolina won her 19th career singles title (in 23 finals played) and her 12th on hard court. Among current female tennis players, only American Venus Williams (49), Polish Iga Świątek (25), and Belarusians Arina Sobolenko and Victoria Azarenka (21 each) have more titles.
Previously, “FACTS” reported that Elina Svitolina played “fake tennis” with Andriy Shevchenko.
Photo by Jimmie48
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