World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka added another significant hard-court victory to her impressive career record on Saturday. Sabalenka triumphed at the Miami Open presented by Itaú, securing her first title at this prestigious tournament with a straight-sets win of 7-5, 6-2 against No. 4 Jessica Pegula in the final.
In a rematch of the previous year`s US Open final, Sabalenka needed 1 hour and 28 minutes to overcome the American player and clinch the championship. Despite recent close matches between them, Sabalenka has now extended her advantage in head-to-head encounters against Pegula to 7-2.
Enhancing Her Achievements: Sabalenka has now accumulated eight WTA 1000 singles titles in her career, matching the total of Maria Sharapova. Only a few players are ahead of her in terms of WTA 1000 titles since this tier was established in 2009: Serena Williams (13), Victoria Azarenka (10), Iga Swiatek (10), Simona Halep (9), and Petra Kvitova (9).
Overall, Sabalenka celebrated her 19th Hologic WTA Tour singles title by winning in Miami. An impressive 17 of these 19 titles have been won on her preferred hard court surface, including all three of her Grand Slam singles titles: the 2023 Australian Open, 2024 Australian Open, and 2024 US Open.
Surprisingly, before today`s victory, Sabalenka had never won either of the hard-court tournaments that make up the “Sunshine Double” in March. She has been a runner-up twice at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells (including earlier this month) and had never previously reached the final in Miami until this week. Now, Aryna Sabalenka can finally call herself the Miami Open champion.
Key Moments of the Match: Sabalenka initially gained an advantage early in the match, but Pegula responded by winning three consecutive games to take a 3-2 lead. The seesaw battle in the first set continued as Sabalenka then dominated the next three games, giving her the opportunity to serve for the set at 5-3.
Another twist occurred when Pegula broke back, but at 6-5, Sabalenka played her most dominant game of the set. The World No. 1 powerfully hit three consecutive winners to earn triple set point, and then sealed the set with another commanding forehand, breaking serve to love.
Both players committed 16 unforced errors in the first set, but Sabalenka`s 16 winners were double the number of Pegula`s eight. Notably, this was the fourth consecutive set that Pegula has lost to Sabalenka by a score of 7-5 in their rivalry.
The game at 2-1 in the second set proved to be pivotal. Pegula fought back from 0-40 down to deuce, but Sabalenka unleashed powerful forehand winners on the subsequent two points to secure a break and take a 3-1 lead. From that point, the top seed confidently closed out the match to lift the Miami Open trophy.
More updates to follow…
Rupert Caldwell