Coco Gauff issues apology immediately after losing Italian Open final | Tennis | Sport

Coco Gauff apologised to her team after her bid for a first title of 2026 ended in disappointment. The American suffered defeat to Elina Svitolina in a thrilling Italian Open final which the Ukrainian won 6-4, 6-7, 6-2. It is Svitolina’s third Rome title and her first since 2018. Gauff hasn’t added to her collection of trophies since the Wuhan Open back in October.

The world No.4 has now lost three times to Svitolina this year, losing in the Dubai semi-finals and Australian Open quarter-finals before this. And Gauff felt bad for her team, saying in her post-match speech on the Campo Centrale court: “First I wanna congratulate Elina. Another tough battle between us. I’m on the other side but hopefully one of these days I can get over that.

“But no seriously you had an incredible tournament, a lot of long matches against great players. Congratulations to you and your team, who are always very nice on and off the court. Hopefully see you in the French Open at the final! That would be nice.

“Next I would like to thank God and my lord and saviour Jesus Christ. Always keeping me covered and just a source of calmness for me. Then I would like to thank my team. I’m sorry I couldn’t play a little bit better in some moments today but it’s been a great two weeks with you guys.

“I definitely feel the momentum going into the French Open. A lot of lessons learned from this match. We keep going and I appreciate you guys. Also like to thank my mum who is here, my dad who is at home, and the rest of my family for supporting me too.

“I’d like to thank all the ballkids, all the umpires, volunteers, staff, locker room staff. Everyone who makes this tournament possible and makes it as easy as possible for us players to show up on the court. I appreciate each and every person I see and don’t see. Also I’d like to thank you guys, the fans.

“It is cold, it’s been rainy, it’s late! I’m ready to go to sleep, I’m sure you guys are too. Thank you so much. I hope I didn’t forget anything else. Thank you. Grazie Roma, see you next year!”

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Svitolina beat three of the top four players in the world, dumping out Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek before besting Gauff. And the world No.10 said: “Very hard to believe it’s been eight years since I had this trophy here, I’m very, very pleased with the win here.

“First I want to say congrats to Coco for a great tournament and your team as well. Such a great champion and hoping to have more battles with you in the future. I want to thank my team. I had a tough loss in the final in Dubai this year and it was my 19th title and I was aiming for 20.

“I told my coach it would be nice before I finish my career to have a round number. He told me ‘hopefully we’re going to get it this year!’ So very happy. Thank you so much guys for putting so much hard work in and I’m very happy to hold this trophy with you.

“I want to also thank you my fitness coach who is probably watching on the TV, and of course my husband (Gael Monfils) who is telling me I’m very bad at speeches. Hopefully it’s not that bad this time! I want to thank the tournament, all of the people who are involved in making it really great for us and improving it every year.

“I’m really enjoying coming here and playing here in Rome. And of course you guys, these two weeks I’ve been playing late matches and it was unbelievable to see you guys still staying up and supporting us day in day out.

“You always make it very special. It’s one of my favourite tournaments and you make it even more special with the energy that you give the players. It’s just amazing.

“I want to thank all the people back in Ukraine who have been supporting me. Been watching at night and being in bomb shelters. It’s been really heavy in the past couple of weeks for Ukraine. I want to thank you for all the support, for trying to find the matches and watching and supporting from afar. I feel all the love. Thank you. Slava Ukraini!