Svitolina crushed Grachova in the opening match of the season in Oakland

The first racket of Ukraine Elina Svitolina (WTA 13) had a successful start at the hard WTA 250 tournament in Auckland, New Zealand.

In the first round, the Ukrainian defeated in two sets Varvar Grachov (France, WTA 75) in 1 hour and 17 minutes.

WTA 250 Auckland. Hard, 1/16 finals

Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) [1] – Varvara Grachova (France) – 6:3, 6:1

Elina held the third face-to-face confrontation against Grachova and defeated Varvara for the third time.

For Svitolina, this was the first match of the 2026 season. Her next opponent will be Katie Boulter, who beat Yulia Starodubtseva in her first round match.

Previously, Elina played against Katie only once. In 2020, Svitolina defeated Boulter at the start of the Australian Open.

Svitolina is the first seed of the competition in Oakland. Two years ago, Elina reached the final on these courts.