Aryna Sabalenka is one away from completing the Sunshine Double, but she has to go through one fight to achieve it.
After defeating world No. 2 Elena Rybakina in the semifinals, top-ranked Sabalenka will step up to face Coco Gauff in the championship match of the Miami Open on Saturday. Country No. 1 against country no. 4; A title of 1000 points in a row; 6-6 in the head-to-head series. Outside of the Grand Slams, it doesn’t get much bigger than this.
Sabalenka held a bit of a hand in the last match. She has won five of their last eight meetings and most recently defeated Gauff 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the 2025 WTA Finals. He also got the best of the Americans in their last two outdoor court tournaments.
No one is playing better than Sabalenka right now – not even close. The Belarusian fell to Rybakina in the Australian Open final, but that was her only loss of the season. Sabalenka comes into the match with a 22-1 record following Miami’s wins over Ann Li, Caty McNally, Qinwen Zheng, Hailey Baptiste, and Rybakina. Li forced the opening tiebreaker, but neither set was more contested than 6-4.
Gauff arrived in Miami after suffering an arm injury in Indian Wells and has already been tested in four three-set matches. The 22-year-old swept Karolina Muchova 6-1, 6-1 on Thursday, but the match was so bad for Muchova that the result could almost be thrown out the window.
Based on current form and recent head-to-head history, Sabalenka can be expected to win a second consecutive WTA Premier 1000 title.
Choose: Sabalenka in 2
