Coco Gauff: American beaten in epic as Elina Svitolina reaches Dubai final

Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina defeated world number four Coco Gauff to reach the final against Jessica Pegula at the Dubai Tennis Championships.

American Pegula, struggling with an unsuccessful opening set and an early break of serve in the second set, defeated her compatriot Amanda Anisimova 1-6 6-4 6-3 and became the first person to win the semi-final.

Gauff, 21, had a chance to reach the All-American final on Saturday, but Svitolina prevailed 6-4 6-7 (13-15) 6-4 in the epic encounter that lasted three hours and three minutes.

Although 31-year-old Svitolina collected four match points in the second set tiebreak and could not get them, she still managed to determine the result.

At the Men’s Qatar Open, world number one Carlos Alcaraz continued his perfect start to 2026 by defeating Andrey Rublev from Russia with a score of 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 and advanced to the final.