World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka showed exactly why she deserves that top ranking Saturday.
Sabalenka completed the Sunshine Double, the first to do so since 2022, with her win over No. 4 American Coco Gauff 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in the Miami Open final at Miami Gardens, Fla.
“I haven’t had a moment to stop, look back and realize what’s happened in the past months. I’m so proud of the work we’ve done and the fight I was able to bring on court,” Sabalenka said during the trophy ceremony after the win. “Coco will fight for every opportunity and she played incredibly, but I was mentally strong. I knew I was doing everything right and it was just a matter of a few points.”
Sabalenka is just the 11th player ever to complete the Sunshine Double, when a player wins the Indian Wells Open and the Miami Open back-to-back, and just the fifth ever woman to do so. She joins Steffi Graf (1994, 1996), Kim Clijsters (2005), Victoria Azarenka (2016) and Iga Swiatek (2022).
This also the second straight Miami Open championship for Sabalenka, who defended her title by dropping just one set along the way. She’s the first person since Ashleigh Barty in 2019 and 2021 to win back-to-back titles at this event.
Sabalenka came out hot in Saturday’s final, breaking Gauff’s first serve and forcing seven break point opportunities in the first set. Sabalenka rang home two aces to take the first set 6-2. Gauff fought back in the second set and earned the only break of the set to tie it at a set apiece.
But Sabalenka replicated her success in the first set by breaking Gauff’s first serve and raced ahead once again to a 3-1 lead. With the match on the line and Gauff serving once again, Sabalenka needed just one match point to ice the game and secure the title.
Overall, Sabalenka forced 11 break point opportunities and converted on four of them while facing only two herself. She defended her own serve well by winning 35 of her 47 first serve points (74 percent).
Gauff put up a valiant effort but struggled on her serve, being broken four times and conceding seven double faults.
“Aryna congratulations. We’ve had many battles, many finals and, I think you push me to be a better player,” Gauff said. “You’re a great fighter and hopefully we can play many more. I think we will.”
–Field Level Media
