Coco Gauff in tears as Elina Svitolina surpasses Serena Williams to make history in Italian Open final

Coco Gauff was left holding back tears as she suffered heartbreak at the hands of Elina Svitolina in the Italian Open final.

The Ukrainian star won her third title on the famous red clay court of Foro Italico, with a 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 win under the lights in Rome.

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It marked Svitolina’s fifth WTA 1000 title, and ensured she passed tennis great Serena Williams to make impressive history.

Elina Svitolina sets impressive record at Italian Open

At 31 years and 275 days old, she is now the oldest player to claim three WTA top five wins at a single event.

Williams had previously held the record, doing it aged 31 years and 173 days at the Miami Open back in 2013.

Saturday’s win against Gauff was Svitolina’s biggest since becoming a mother in 2022, and means she bested the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4-ranked players in the world en-route to the title.

Prior to knocking off the American star, she beat Elena Rybakina (No. 2) in the quarterfinal and Iga Swiatek (No.3) in the semis.

“It’s very hard to believe that it’s been eight years since I held this trophy here,” Svitolina said, having won the title for the first time since 2018.

“I’m very, very pleased with the two weeks here. I want to say congrats to Coco for a great tournament, and for your team as well.

“You’re such a great champion, and hopefully we’ll have more battles in the future.”

Emotional Coco Gauff vows to bounce back at French Open

After being beaten in Saturday’s final, Gauff was emotional but upbeat, and joked she hopes to end up on the winning side of their tough battles on ‘one of these days’ as she held back tears.

“I want to congratulate Elina. You had an incredible tournament, a lot of long matches against great players, so congratulations to you and your team,” Gauff told Svitolina, after losing her second-straight Italian Open final.

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“Hopefully I’ll see you in the French Open in the final, that would be nice.”

The American then suggested she has plenty of momentum going into the major later this month.

“I would like to thank my team, I’m sorry, could I have played a little better at some moments today?

“But it’s been a great two weeks with you guys.

“I definitely feel the momentum going into the French Open, a lot of lessons learned from this match, so we keep going.”

Gauff, who rallied to force a third set in Rome’s showpiece after falling behind early, will have just a matter of days to prepare for Roland-Garros.

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The Paris tournament is set to begin on Monday, May 18.

Gauff will be out to defend her title, having beaten Aryna Sabalenka in a classic 12 months ago.

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