Coco Gauff, Elina Svitolina Photo: Phil Walter
The match up that seemed destined to happen at this year's women's ASB Classic has become a reality. Number one and number two seeds Coco Gauff and Elina Svitolina will clash on centre court at Stanley Street in the final, which will commence at around 7pm.
For the American Gauff, currently world number three and reigning US Open champion, this is nothing new. She prevailed last year in emphatic fashion, hammering Spain's Rebeka Masarova 6-1 6-1 to kickstart a breakthrough season. The 19-year-old is on a nine-match winning streak now in Auckland, so clearly feels right at home here, and hasn't dropped a set on the way to the final.
In short, she's simply picked up where she left off last year. The only thing that's prevented Gauff from laying complete waste to her opponents in quick time has been the weather, in the semi-final Emma Navarro was given a 15-minute reprieve before eventually ending up on the wrong end of a 6-3 6-1 scoreline.
"I knew today I had to play well, and I did what I wanted to do," she said post-match.
However, while that was all one-way traffic, Svitolina's victory over China's Wang Ziyu was anything but. By that stage the rainclouds had completely gone and it had turned into a gorgeous evening, but the Ukrainian was clearly troubled with an undisclosed injury in the first set. The impressive, unseeded Wang cashed in to break her early and win it easily 6-2.
However, whatever treatment Svitolina received in her injury timeout worked. After putting on a contender for best match ever at the ASB Classic on Tuesday night, she made a case for one of the most courageous efforts as well by storming back to take the second and third sets 6-4 6-3.
"Physically it was tough for me," she admitted.
"There were so many people cheering for me so it was tough for me not to try hard so it pushed me to fight and stay in the match. And there were a lot of people in Ukraine cheering and supporting me as well."
Svitolina is a fighter, that's for sure. But does she have enough fight left for the seemingly unstoppable Gauff? The American made it clear she holds little pity for her opponents while the ball is in play, saying that people might find it hard to get motivated to beat a legitimate friend like Navarro, but "it's not for me."
"It's just like another opponent and then when I step off, we're cool. And I think that's just the way my parents taught me. When I was growing up with my mom and doing competitions - now I can beat them and everything, but when I was younger, I couldn't - they weren't nice to me just because I was their kid.
"I try to be competitive and I think that's the special thing about sports is seeing people compete with such intensity and almost hatred for one another. But then when it's over, it's like a friendship."
If Gauff does triumph, she'll match Julia Görges' feat of going back-to-back in 2019-20, and become the first American to achieve a double since Patty Fendick way back in 1988-89. You can't accuse Gauff of not being a fighting champion, she showed up in perfect condition and is playing exactly like the player who won a Slam last year.
The main concern though is just how serious Svitolina's injury is. It would be a shame for what will be another bumper crowd to see a shortened match, but given the Australian Open is just around the corner, erring on the side of caution might unfortunately be the order of the day.
Let's hope not. The scene at Stanley Street on Saturday evening was perfect, with full stands and beautiful sunshine. The crowds, organisers and the players themselves deserve to go out on a high note before the men's tournament begins.
