Gauff hungry for revenge in Dubai as Svitolina seeks to spoil all-American final

Match news and form

Jessica Pegula extends her streak of reaching semi-finals to seven tournaments after surviving her first real test of the campaign against Clara Tauson. The fourth seed eventually dismissed the Dane, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, in just under the two-hour mark, backing up the straight-set wins over Varvara Gracheva and Iva Jovic.

Despite reaching the semi-final of every tournament starting from the 2025 US Open, Pegula has not won a title since Bad Homburg in last year’s grass-court swing. She has lost five of those six semi-final matches since late August, including falling to Marta Kostyuk in Brisbane and Elena Rybakina at the Australian Open.

Amanda Anisimova was on the verge of defeat after trailing defending champion Mirra Andreeva by a set and 0-2. She went down 1-3 in the deciding set and later gave the youngster a chance to serve for victory. From two points of defeat, the second seed prevailed 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 in over two and a half hours.

Until this point, Anisimova was having a laid-back campaign in Dubai, receiving a bye in the first round and a walkover in the second, and beating Janice Tjen, 6-1, 6-3. Nevertheless, the 24-year-old, who reached two Slam finals last year, would be delighted to resume her winning spree after the retirement in Doha.

Head-to-head

Pegula leads 4-0. While their first three meetings came in North America, the Americans faced off in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open last month, with the older one prevailing 6-2, 7-6.

Stats & facts

Pegula lost to Barbora Krejcikova in her only previous semi-final appearance in Dubai three years ago. In all, she has been to seven WTA 1000 finals in her career, two in 2025: Miami and Wuhan.

Pegula is usually hit-or-miss against fellow top 10 players and has lost eight of 15 such encounters in the last 12 months.

Anisimova stands 9-5 across all her tour-level semi-finals to date and 4-1 in the last five. Four of her five final appearances in 2025 came at the WTA 1000 level or higher.

Eleven of Anisimova’s 19 career top 10 wins have come since February 2025 alone. It is worth noting that seven of those 11 victories came in three-setters.

Betting analysis

Pegula has reached a seventh straight semi-final, but losing five of her last six at this stage, including two this season, makes this a crucial opportunity to finally turn consistency into a title push.

Anisimova may be the fresher player, yet being broken nine times in her previous match raises serious concerns. Given the recent performances, Pegula looks better positioned to extend her advantage in this matchup.

Pegula in 2026

Best results: Australian Open, Brisbane (semi-finals)

Best results on outdoor hard courts: Australian Open, Brisbane (semi-finals)

Record: 11-2

Record in the last 10 matches: 8-2

Record on outdoor hard courts: 11-2

Record against top 10: 2-1 (career 28-38)

Record in WTA 1000 semi-finals: 0-0 (career 7-6)

Record in semi-finals: 0-2 (career 20-17)

Grand Slams: Australian Open (semi-finals)

Pegula at the Dubai Tennis Championships

Career record: 10-4

Best result: semi-finals (2023, 2026)

Last year’s result: round of 16

Record in semi-finals: 0-1

Preparation: none

Road to the semi-finals: Bye, Gracheva (6-4, 6-0), (16) Jovic (6-4, 6-2), (12) Tauson (6-3, 2-6, 6-4)

Anisimova in 2026

Best results: Dubai (semi-finals)

Best results on outdoor hard courts: Dubai (semi-finals)

Record: 7-3

Record in the last 10 matches: 7-3

Record on outdoor hard courts: 7-3

Record against top 10: 1-1 (career 19-29)

Record in WTA 1000 semi-finals: 0-0 (career 3-0)

Record in semi-finals: 0-0 (career 9-5)

Grand Slams: Australian Open (quarter-finals)

Anisimova at the Dubai Tennis Championships

Career record: 4-4

Best result: semi-finals (2026)

Last year’s result: round of 64

Record in semi-finals: 0-0

Preparation: Doha (round of 32)

Road to the semi-finals: Bye, Krejcikova (w/o), Tjen (6-1, 6-3), (5) M. Andreeva (2-6, 7-5, 7-6)

Match news and form

Coco Gauff played her most emphatic match of the tournament against rising star Alexandra Eala and dismissed the crowd favourite, 6-0, 6-2, in 67 minutes. This was a stark contrast to the previous round, when she had to save three match points in order to defeat Elise Mertens, 2-6, 7-6, 6-3, despite 16 double faults.

Gauff would be relieved to have reached her first semi-final of the season and set aside the shock opening-round defeat to Elisabetta Cocciaretto in Doha. The reigning Roland-Garros and Wuhan champion is having a decent 2026 so far, reaching the quarter-final in Melbourne and beating Iga Swiatek at the United Cup.

Elina Svitolina had to take the scenic route in order to stop determined lucky loser Antonia Ruzic in the quarter-finals. Having already scripted a comeback win over Belinda Bencic in the previous round, the Ukrainian knocked out the Croatian player, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, to reach her first Dubai semi-final in seven years.

Svitolina had an underwhelming finish to 2025, playing only three tournaments after Wimbledon (not counting BJK Cup) and failing to win a match in two of them. In response, she has swept up 14 match wins in 2026 so far at the cost of two losses, leading to a title in Auckland and a semi-final at the Australian Open.

Head-to-head

The series is level at 2-2. Svitolina prevailed in the quarter-final of the Australian Open last month, 6-1, 6-2, which in turn was their first meeting since Gauff’s 2024 US Open victory.

Stats & facts

Gauff has never won more than three matches in a row in any of her five previous appearances in Dubai, going as far as the semi-final three years ago (with the help of a bye and a walkover).

The American has never reached a final above the WTA 250 level in the first three months of a season, though she has been to nine career finals at the WTA 1000 level or higher.

Svitolina has played the Dubai semi-finals four times in her career, falling short at this stage twice (2016, 2019), but going on to become the champion in 2017 and 2018.

The Ukrainian has been to just two finals in the last 24 months, leading to titles in Rouen in April 2025 and in Auckland last month. She is seeking her biggest final appearance since winning Rome in 2018.

Betting analysis

Gauff managed to steady her serve just in time after shaky performances in the earlier rounds and will be motivated to avenge her Australian Open defeat.

Svitolina, meanwhile, has displayed her trademark resilience once again and arrives in strong form. Having taken at least a set in all four of their previous meetings, she has the tools and confidence to trouble Gauff and could once again threaten an upset.

Svitolina in 2026

Best results: Auckland (title)

Best results on outdoor hard courts: Auckland (title)

Record: 14-2

Record in the last 10 matches: 8-2

Record on outdoor hard courts: 14-2

Record against top 10: 2-1 (career 45-58)

Record in WTA 1000 semi-finals: 0-0 (career 4-8)

Record in semi-finals: 1-1 (career 23-26)

Grand Slams: Australian Open (semi-finals)

Svitolina at the Dubai Tennis Championships

Career record: 23-8

Best result: title (2017-18)

Last year’s result: round of 32

Record in semi-finals: 2-2

Preparation: Doha (round of 16)

Road to the semi-finals: Bye, Badosa (6-4 ret.), (9) Bencic (4-6, 6-1, 6-3), Ruzic (3-6, 6-2, 6-3)

Gauff in 2026

Best results: Dubai (semi-finals)

Best results on outdoor hard courts: Dubai (semi-finals)

Record: 10-3

Record in the last 10 matches: 8-2

Record on outdoor hard courts: 10-3

Record against top 10: 1-0 (career 34-36)

Record in WTA 1000 semi-finals: 0-0 (career 5-7)

Record in semi-finals: 0-0 (career 14-16)

Grand Slams: Australian Open (quarter-finals)

Gauff at the Dubai Tennis Championships

Career record: 10-5

Best result: semi-finals (2023, 2026)

Last year’s result: round of 32

Record in semi-finals: 0-1

Preparation: Doha (round of 32)

Road to the semi-finals: Bye, Kalinskaya (6-4, 6-4), Mertens (2-6, 7-6, 6-3), Eala (6-0, 6-2)