ROME, May 16 (Reuters) - Ukraine's Elina Svitolina signalled her French Open ambitions by battling past world number four Coco Gauff 6-4 6-7(3) 6-2 in the Italian Open final on Saturday to lift her first claycourt title of the season ahead of Roland Garros.
Victory over the American followed Svitolina's wins over world number two Elena Rybakina and third-ranked Iga Swiatek, making her a strong contender to claim a maiden Grand Slam title in Paris, where the main draw begins on May 24.
Svitolina's third title in the Italian capital comes eight years after her second successive triumph at the Foro Italico, a spell that included a maternity break in which she gave birth to her daughter with fellow player Gael Monfils in late 2022.
"It's hard to believe it's been eight years since I had this trophy here," Svitolina said.
"I'm very pleased with my two weeks here. Congratulations to Coco for a great tournament. You're such a great champion, and I hope we can have more battles in the future."
Seventh seed Svitolina twice came from a break down to level a tight first set at 4-4 against Gauff, and the Ukrainian held on under huge pressure during exhausting rallies to get ahead in the ninth game with some powerful hitting.
A couple of untimely double faults from Gauff's racket in the next game gifted Svitolina the opening set, and the 31-year-old dialled up the intensity late in the next set to go within touching distance of a third Rome title.
Gauff, the reigning Roland Garros champion, held on bravely until 5-5 in the second set and then broke with a reflex volley at the net after a shot that clipped the netcord unsettled Svitolina and forced her into making a flat return.
That joy was short-lived as Svitolina broke back immediately, but Gauff raised her game in the tiebreak to drag the match into a deciding set, where there was little to separate the duo after the opening four games.
A backhand error from Gauff meant Svitolina sealed a vital break in the fifth game, and the Ukrainian pounced again for a double break, before holding her nerve in a tense finish to secure victory on her third match point.
SVITOLINA THANKS UKRAINIANS
Svitolina later thanked Ukrainians back home as the country continues to grapple with war following Russia's 2022 invasion.
"Many of them are in bomb shelters and it's been really heavy in the past couple of weeks for Ukraine," she added.
"I want to thank you for all the support from afar, I feel all the love."
A distraught Gauff was left to digest her third straight defeat by Svitolina, following losses in the Australian Open quarter-finals and Dubai semi-finals this year.
"Another tough battle between us. I'm on the other side but hopefully one of these days I can get over that," Gauff said.
"You had an incredible tournament with a lot of long matches against great players, so congratulations to you and your team.
"Hopefully I'll see you at the French Open, in the final."
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar and Ken Ferris)
