Coco Gauff keeps Prakash Amritraj on his toes after return to Rome final: "Do I look like Raven-Symoné to you?"

These two women illustrate one of the under-discussed effects of expanding the 1000s to two weeks: Now that the players have more time to build their games and their confidence match by match and day by day, they can go from out of form to very much in form during the span of a tournament.

When Rome started, neither Gauff nor Svitolina looked ready to make a final-round run.

The American had lost fairly early in Stuttgart and Madrid, and was distracted by off-court issues, to the point where, just a week ago, she looked dead in the water in the third round against Solana Sierra. But she battled through that match, then staged another miracle comeback against Iva Jovic, then survived a three-setter against Mirra Andreeva, until finally she looked her old Slam-winning self in her straight-set win over Sorana Cirtstea in the semis.

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Coco Gauff gets "most satisfying" win of the week in semifinals | Rome Interview

Svitolina lost her opener in Madrid, which may have worked to her advantage. She says it gave her a rare chance to do some serious mid-season training.

“It was important to prioritize my fitness, my kind of strength, because in such a busy schedule, don’t have so much time to train physically,” Svitolina said. “I really had a good eight days of training. Completely switched off from tennis.”

Chalk that up as another effect of the 1000s expansion: Early losers can get a training block in.

Whatever Svitolina did, it has suddenly turned her into a contender for the title not just in Rome, but Roland Garros as well. In her last two matches, she has knocked off two of the other favorites for Paris, Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek, by playing with exceptionally locked-in determination and confidence under pressure.

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Now Svitolina and Gauff will meet, seemingly at the peak of their powers. Svitolina leads their head-to-head 3-2, and has already beaten Coco twice in 2026. The second match, in Dubai in February, went to 6-4 in the third. Svitolina is also very good in finals; she’s 19-5 overall, and 7-0 on clay.

But Gauff comes in with a strong résumé as well. She’s 11-4 in finals; she has two major titles to none for Svitolina; she’s ranked six spots higher—No. 4 to No. 10—and she has been a top three performer on clay for most of this decade.

If one of them is weary after all of this time and tennis in Rome, I’d guess it would be Svitolina, who is nine years older than Gauff. But if she can maintain the same form, mood, and fitness that she showed in the semis and quarters, I’ll take her to win again. Winner: Svitolina

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