Sabalenka defeats Gauff in three sets to secure Miami Open championship

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Aryna Sabalenka triumphed over Coco Gauff in the Miami Open women’s singles final with a score of 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 on Saturday.

The top-ranked player dominated the fourth-ranked Gauff in the opening and concluding sets with powerful groundstroke winners, becoming the first athlete to achieve the “Sunshine Double”—winning both Indian Wells and Miami in the same season—since Iga Swiatek in 2022.

This victory marked Sabalenka’s second consecutive title at the Miami Open, which is Gauff’s local tournament, and extended her lead over Gauff to 7-6 in their overall matchups.

“You’ve pushed me to be a better player,” Sabalenka remarked during the awards ceremony, adding about the audience, “You always bring a full stadium.”

The match lasted 2 hours and 11 minutes, concluding with Gauff being broken for the fourth time due to a wide backhand.

Gauff made a comeback to push the match into a third set but was unable to sustain the momentum she seemed to gain from the enthusiastic crowd cheering for her.

“It sucks not to come out with a better result, but I had a lot of joy this week,” Gauff expressed to the audience. “You guys brought energy every day this week.”

Gauff’s inconsistent serve resulted in seven double faults, while Sabalenka did not record any.

Sabalenka broke Gauff in the opening game of the third set, aided by a double fault from Gauff and an unforced error. On break point, Sabalenka delivered a powerful backhand winner.

The match was attended by Kai Trump, President Donald Trump’s granddaughter and a golfer at the University of Miami, who shared a photo with Sabalenka from the tournament on social media on Friday.

Sabalenka, who secured her 24th professional title, mentioned before the match that she was pleased to see Gauff performing at her best in her home tournament, where she had never advanced past the fourth round before.

Source: espn.com