Elina Svitolina celebrates a point against Iva Jovic in her semifinal. Photo: Alan Lee / www.photosport.nz
Ukrainian number one seed Elina Svitolina is into the ASB Classic final for the second time after beating American Iva Jovic in straight sets.
Svitolina won the first set 7-6 in a tiebreak, before putting on a commanding display to win the second set 6-2.
"It's nice to get a straight sets win, yesterday was a big battle," Svitolina told Sky Sports, referencing her three set quarterfinal victory over British qualifier Sonay Kartal on Friday.
"In the first set Iva was playing really well and I had to really fight back and dig deep and try to find my level, and I'm very happy I could finish this match in two sets to save some energy for the final."
Svitolina last made the ASB Classic final in 2024, where she lost in three sets to American Coco Gauff.
In the other semifinal, Chinese seventh seed Xinyu Wang won an enthralling three-set match over fourth-seeded Filipino Alex Eala.
Xinyu Wang celebrates her ASB Classic semifinal win. Photo: Alan Lee/Photosport
Eala, 23, served for the match at 5-3 in the second set, but was unable to deliver the decisive blow and allowed her rival to creep back into contention.
Wang, 24, seemed to be cruising in the first set, when she broke her opponent's serve twice for a 5-2 lead. Incredibly, Eala broke back, then broke again... and again, winning six straight games to take the set 7-6.
The Filipino again fell behind in the second with an early break, but went on another run, taking four straight games to serve for the match at 5-3.
This time, the Chinese fought back, breaking to stave off defeat and breaking again to take the set 7-5.
The match crept past two hours, as Wang took her momentum into the third and deciding set, breaking serve for an early 4-0 advantage. Eala began to labour and needed a medical timeout, as her back seized up, but she was able to return to the court and promptly held serve to stem the bleeding.
Wang held serve to close within a game of victory, but Eala overcame a double fault to hold, broke to stay in the contest and held to love, as Wang began to flag.
Eala could not complete the comeback though, as Wang took full toll of her first matchpoint to advance to the championship round with a 5-7 7-5 6-4 win in 2h 48m.
"It was a crazy battle from the start to the end," Wang told Sky Sport. "She's an absolute fighter and, to be honest, I feel more pressure when I'm 5-0 up.
"Really happy that I got through this one today and through to my first-ever final."
Wang has played in one previous WTA final, losing to Czech Marketa Vondrousova at Berlin last June. She has made two previous appearances at Auckland, losing to compatriot Xiyu Wang in the second round two years ago.
