Elina Svitolina beats Wang Xinyu to win her 19th career WTA title in Auckland

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Elina Svitolina will head to the Australian Open after winning her 19th WTA Tour title Sunday at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.

Top seed Svitolina beat seventh-seeded Wang Xinyu of China 6-3, 7-6 (8). It was the 13th-ranked Svitolina's 19th title from 24 finals appearances. She previously reached the Auckland final in 2024 when she lost in three sets to Coco Gauff.

Svitolina will now head to Melbourne where she will play an exhibition against fourth-ranked Amanda Anisimova of the United States on Wednesday.

The Ukrainian ended her 2025 season in September when she decided to take a mental health break from the tour. Auckland was her first tournament since that break.

She was supported courtside throughout the week by her husband Gael Monfils who won the men's title in Auckland last year and will defend that title from Monday.

"It definitely feels amazing to win another title, especially after a not very pleasant end of year for me," Svitolina said. "But that break really helped me to regroup and come back with a new energy and I'm very happy that I got a title here.

"This one was very special because, obviously, my husband won here last year and this year he told me if you don't win this year I don't know what to tell you anymore."

Svitolina saved a break point in her opening service game in which Wang made her first successful venture to the net, showing the ability of a former Grand Slam doubles champion. Wang also used a well-disguised drop shot, another weapon for a player who won the French Open doubles title in 2023.

Svitolina converted her first break point opportunity in the sixth game, then held her next two service games to take the first set in just over 30 minutes.

Wang held a tight opening service game in the second set, using a drop shot to catch Svitolina out of position. After surviving break points in the fifth game with a running volley, Wang maintained pressure to lead 5-4, utilizing powerful groundstrokes to move Svitolina around the court.

The ensuing tiebreak saw Wang take an early lead from a Svitolina error and a sharp return, though the top seed quickly leveled by winning two consecutive points on Wang's serve.

Svitolina then produced two big serves to lead 6-5 but Wang saved the first championship point. The Ukranian then won a crucial minibreak to lead 7-6 and served to take the match on her second match point.

Wang was playing in her first WTA Tour final.

"I want to say thankyou to my team," Wang said. "I've had some injuries in the past year and sometimes the most important thing is the people around here. I'm very happy to start my 2026 like this."