The women’s singles final is on Saturday in Rome.
Since winning Roland Garros last year, Coco Gauff has only claimed one WTA title, in what has been a bit of a draught for the 22-year-old. But with a victory in Saturday’s final, she can reassert herself as one of the favorites at this year’s Roland Garros.
Her opponent is two-time Rome champion Elina Svitolina, who won this title back-to-back in 2017 and 2018. But that 2018 title is Svitolina’s most recent WTA 1000 title, and that’s the same year she won the WTA Finals. In the midst of what has been a stellar season thus far, can Svitolina win her biggest title in eight years?
Coco Gauff (3) vs. Elina Svitolina (7) – Not Before 5:00pm on Campo Centrale
Gauff is 24-8 on the year, a somewhat modest record by her high standard. This is her second final of 2026, coming two months after she lost in the final of Miami to Aryna Sabalenka. A year ago in this final, Gauff lost to Jasmine Paolini in straights. Overall Gauff 11-4 in WTA finals, and 3-3 in WTA 1000-level finals. She has dropped three sets through five matches this fortnight, as she continues to grind out victories without her best tennis. Gauff saved a match points a few rounds ago against Iva Jovic to stay alive in this tournament.
Svitolina is 28-7 on the year, and like Gauff, this is her second WTA 1000 final of 2026. Three months ago in Dubai, she lost the championship match to Jessica Pegula. Prior to that loss, Elina was 4-0 in WTA 1000 finals, though all of those victories came back in 2017 or 2018. But throughout her career, Svitolina has been excellent in WTA finals, with a record of 19-5. She has dropped two sets to this stage, but those two sets came against two of the top four seeds: Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek.
Svitolina leads their head-to-head 3-2, which includes two wins earlier this year. In the Australian Open quarterfinals, Svitolina easily prevailed 6-1, 6-2, in yet another match where Gauff struggled with double faults. A month later in the Dubai semifinals, they contested an over three-hour three-setter. That match saw Gauff save four match points during an extended second-set tiebreak, but Svitolina was able to take the third 6-4.
On Saturday, based on their recent form, as well as their recent head-to-head, I give the edge to Svitolina to win her third title in Rome. My biggest concern is whether she will suffer a bit of a letdown after two grueling, emotional victories over Rybakina and Swiatek, as she’ll need to beat three of the top four players in the world to take this title. And she’ll certainly be feeling some pressure as she vies for her biggest title in nearly a decade. But even though they occurred many years ago, Svitolina should draw some confidence from her previous triumphs in Rome.
Saturday’s full Order of Play is here.
