But surprisingly, before today, Sabalenka had never won either of the hard-court titles which comprise March’s prestigious Sunshine Double. She is a two-time runner-up at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells (including earlier this month) and had never reached a Miami Open final until this week. Now, Sabalenka is the Miami Open champion at […]
But surprisingly, before today, Sabalenka had never won either of the hard-court titles which comprise March’s prestigious Sunshine Double. She is a two-time runner-up at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells (including earlier this month) and had never reached a Miami Open final until this week. Now, Sabalenka is the Miami Open champion at last.
The 2-1 game proved to be the critical juncture in the second set. Pegula fought back from 0-40 down to deuce, but Sabalenka cracked forehand winners on the next two points to get the break for 3-1 after all. The top seed eased home from there to hoist the trophy.
Boosting her numbers: Sabalenka is now up to eight WTA 1000 singles titles in her career, equaling Maria Sharapova’s total. The only players ahead of her in WTA 1000 titles, dating back to the creation of that tier in 2009, are Serena Williams (13), Victoria Azarenka (10), Iga Swiatek (10), Simona Halep (9) and Petra Kvitova (9).
Match moments: Sabalenka saw an early advantage slip away on Saturday as Pegula reeled off three straight games to lead 3-2. But the back-and-forth first set continued with Sabalenka dominating the next three games to serve for the set at 5-3.In a rematch of last year’s US Open final, Sabalenka took 1 hour and 28 minutes to best the American and capture the crown. Despite some very close sets between the two of late, Sabalenka has extended her head-to-head lead over Pegula to 7-2.
“I didn’t want to lose another final, to be honest,” the champion continued. “It’s really tough to lose in the final. So if someone would say that, I’d be, like, ‘OK, it’s going to be a battle, I’m ready for that.'”World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka added another hard-court title to her legacy of excellence on the surface on Saturday. Sabalenka captured the Miami Open presented by Itaú title for the first time with a 7-5, 6-2 win over No. 4 Jessica Pegula in the final.
There was another twist as Pegula pulled back on serve, but at 6-5, Sabalenka pulled off her most commanding game yet. The World No. 1 slammed three consecutive winners to garner triple set point, then fired another overwhelming forehand to close out the set with a love break.
Each player had 16 unforced errors in the opener, but Sabalenka’s 16 winners doubled Pegula’s eight. It was the fourth consecutive set Pegula lost to Sabalenka 7-5 in their rivalry.Overall, Sabalenka won her 19th Hologic WTA Tour singles title by triumphing in Miami. 17 of her 19 titles have come on her beloved hard court, including all three of her Grand Slam singles titles — the 2023 Australian Open, the 2024 Australian Open and the 2024 US Open.
“Going into this match, I had the mentality that no matter what happens, if she’s gonna break me, I had the mentality to stay there, to focus on myself, to fight for every point no matter what,” Sabalenka said.”Finally I was able to play my best tennis in the final, and I’m just super happy with the result and with the performance,” Sabalenka said, after her win.
It was a big victory for Sabalenka, who suffered narrow losses in her last two finals, at the Australian Open (to Madison Keys) and Indian Wells (to Mirra Andreeva).
