Aryna Sabalenka beat Coco Gauff in the Miami Open women’s singles final 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 on Saturday, March 28.
The world No. 1 overpowered fourth-ranked Gauff in the first and third sets with sizzling groundstroke winners and became the first player to accomplish the “Sunshine Double” — winning Indian Wells followed by Miami in the same season — since Iga Swiatek in 2022.
It was Sabalenka’s second straight title at the Miami Open, Gauff’s hometown tournament, and put her ahead of Gauff in their head-to-head record, 7-6.
“You’ve pushed me to be a better player,” Sabalenka said during the ceremony, before adding about the crowd, “You always bring a full stadium.’’
The Miami Open finals match lasted 2 hours, 11 minutes. It ended on Gauff getting broken for the fourth time with a wide backhand.
Gauff fought back to force the third set but couldn’t maintain the momentum she appeared to get from the deafening crowd supporting her.
“It sucks not to come out with a better result, but I had a lot of joy this week,’’ Gauff said to the crowd. “You guys brought energy every day this week.’’
The fan noise at times frustrated Sabalenka, including when someone yelled “out’’ during a long rally.
She used a curse word at the fan and the chair umpire warned the crowd but also gave a code violation to Sabalenka.
“I shouldn’t be that rude, but come on, you cannot do that,” Sabalenka said at the ceremony. “So let’s agree we were both wrong, so sorry.’’
Gauff’s off-and-on serve created seven double faults while Sabalenka registered none.
Sabalenka broke Gauff in the first game of the third set, helped by a Gauff double fault and an unforced error.
On break point, Sabalenka crunched a backhand winner.
“That first game of the third set up 30-0 with momentum disappointed me in the end,’’ said Gauff. “It was an important game to win in that moment.’’
Kai Trump, President Donald Trump’s granddaughter and a golfer at the University of Miami, attended the final. She had posted a photo with Sabalenka at the tournament on social media Friday.
Sabalenka said before the match that she was happy Gauff had found her best tennis.
She earned her 24th pro title. Sabalenka would have stayed at No. 1 in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings even if she had lost to Gauff.
Miami is Gauff’s home tournament. She had never gotten past the fourth round before this year.
What is a Sunshine Double?
Winning both the Indian Wells and Miami Open together is termed the Sunshine Double, given the tournaments’ respective locations in California and Florida, in the United States of America.
