The pressure Elina Svitolina\u00a0felt to win Sunday\u2019s final at the ASB Classic\u00a0came from a familiar source — her husband, Gael Monfils.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was very special,\u201d the top-seeded Svitolina acknowledged after defeating No. 7 Wang Xinyu 6-3, 7-6 (6). \u201cMy husband won the title here last year. He said, ‘If you don\u2019t win this year, I don\u2019t know what to say.\u2019”<\/p>\n
Later, in a conversation with wtatennis.com, Svitolina elaborated.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore the tournament, he told me it would be amazing if we both won the same tournament,\u201d she said, laughing. \u201cHe was not sure if this ever happened before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, I had it always in the back of my mind. It really motivated me but also [created] a little bit of pressure. I tried to do my very best to get this title.\u201d<\/p>\n
For a week at least, husband and wife are both reigning champions in Auckland. France\u2019s Monfils, ranked No. 64, plays Fabian Marozsan in a first-round match. No. 2 seed Casper Ruud awaits the winner in the second round. Monfils, 39, says he\u2019s playing his last season.<\/p>\n
Svitolina and Monfils were already professional tennis\u2019 power couple, but this one puts them in the history books. More than a\u00a0half century ago, Chris Evert and Jimmy Connors won the 1974 Wimbledon titles. They danced at the Champions\u2019 Dinner — but they were merely engaged at the time.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, Svitolina took the first set in 32 minutes but needed more than twice that time to emerge from the second against a determined Wang. Svitolina finished with seven aces and three double faults, winning 74 percent of her first serves.<\/p>\n
In the crucial tiebreak, her last three serves were all unreturnable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I was serving really, really well today,\u201d Svitolina said. \u201cIt kept me in the match in the second set, then really brought me the win at the end in the tiebreak. Staying tough, fighting for every single point, yeah, kept me in the match.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ultimate difference in this WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz matchup? Svitolina saved all four of the break points she faced. Wang was broken only once, in the sixth game of the first set, but it probably cost her the match.<\/p>\n
This one was sweet for Svitolina, who lost the 2024 final here to Coco Gauff. She\u2019s now a sporty 9-1 in Auckland. This was Svitolina\u2019s third title since giving birth — and her first outside France, following Strasbourg in 2023 and 2025 Rouen.<\/p>\n
Svitolina moves up to No. 12 from No. 13 on Monday. She hasn\u2019t been ranked in the Top 10 since becoming a mother (2021) but is on the cusp again. Svitolina is one of five players aged or more, but only Jessica Pegula is older.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s more with Svitolina:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Congratulations on winning your 19th\u00a0WTA Tour title \u2026 in your mind, what was the difference today?<\/p>\n
I think the little adjustments. I feel like all this week, it\u2019s been all about the adjustments, fighting against the wind, the really tricky opponents. For me, it was all about trying to find the little opportunities and to take them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
You have won nine of 10 matches in Auckland … what is it about New Zealand that agrees with your game?<\/p>\n
I like this tournament a lot. I think the organization is great. The conditions, of course, can be sometimes tricky. But it\u2019s for both players, and you just have to put your head down and get back to work. I love playing here because of the crowd. Doesn\u2019t matter if you play the first match or very late, they are supporting, they are into tennis and very respectful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Your daughter Skai \u2026 at three years old is she old enough to understand what her mother does for a living?<\/p>\n
[Laughing]. To be fair, we never bring her on site. She\u2019s in the city. This time she\u2019s not, she\u2019s back home in Europe. With a nanny and our parents. She understands that we play tennis. I don\u2019t know if she understands completely what we do for a living. But she knows that daddy and mommy sometimes have to play tennis. She plays already herself. It\u2019s great to see here grow up so quick. \u00a0<\/p>\n
You have played in 23 finals and won 19 of them (83 percent), how do you explain that?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s nice to have these statistics. Of course, I\u2019m very sad for those losses. It gives lots of confidence going into the final. Every final is a new story, a new chapter. I always try to be extremely focused on those finals. I know they can be up and down. You might not be playing your best tennis because pressure is playing a big role in it. I try to keep my calm, try to do what I can, yeah, keep fighting, find the small opportunities — and take them.<\/p>\n
You haven\u2019t been Top 10 since you became a mother \u2026 but you\u2019re up to No. 12 \u2026 what are your goals and expectations for 2026?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s to stay healthy. This is the main goal for this year because for the three seasons I had after pregnancy, three of them I didn\u2019t finish well. Two of them were because of my foot — I had to have surgery — then last year I was mentally drained, had no energy to continue. I\u2019ve prioritized my mental health and my physicality. I think it\u2019s really important, those two aspects. They play a major role for a tennis player, and for me personally. I really count a lot on my fighting spirit and of course my fitness and strength. When they are good, I can challenge any player. At the back of my mind, I have the goal to be back in the Top 10, but this is not a main goal.<\/p>\n
You made the quarterfinals at the Australian Open last year at the age of 30 — how excited are you for this year\u2019s event in Melbourne?<\/p>\n
Definitely excited. It\u2019s great to win a title just before and to have one week in between to recover. Melbourne\u2019s conditions are a bit different, but for me, it\u2019s a great week with lots of tough matches. It\u2019s nice to get through them. Just happy to leave New Zealand with the trophy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The pressure Elina Svitolina\u00a0felt to win Sunday\u2019s final at the ASB Classic\u00a0came from a familiar source — her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403893,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[99,428,1959],"class_list":{"0":"post-403892","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-tennis","10":"tag-text"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}