Aryna Sabalenka clinches maiden Miami Open title
Aryna Sabalenka captured her maiden Miami Open title after beating over America's Jessica Pegula in the final
- MIAMI — Aryna Sabalenka captured her maiden Miami Open title after beating
over America's Jessica Pegula in the final.
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- In a rematch of last year's US Open final, despite having
her formidable serve broken three times in the opening set, Sabalenka, the
world No. 1, calmly shook it off, achieved the critical break at 5-6 which
catapulted her to a 7-5, 6-2 victory over fourth-ranked Pegula 1 hour and 28
minutes to win her first Miami Open Masters 1000.
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- 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).
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- "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, I’d
say, [for] these months. So, super happy to hold this beautiful (crystal Butch
Buchholz) trophy.
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- “Honestly going into this match, I had the mentality that no
matter what happens, if she’s going to break me, I had the mentality to stay
there, to focus on myself, to fight for every point no matter what.
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- “I didn’t want to lose another final, to be honest. 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," said Sabalenka.
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- 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).
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- 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, WTA reports.
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- The 26-year-old didn’t drop a set in any of her six matches
as she defeated defending champion Danielle Collins, Olympic gold medalist and
ninth-ranked Qinwen Zheng, seventh-ranked Jasmine Paolini and fourth-ranked
Pegula, arguably the second-best hard-court player on the planet.
