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Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, who is the world number one, defeated Italian sixth seed Jasmine Paolini in straight sets 6-2, 6-2, to set up a Miami Open final against the home favourite Jessica Pegula of the USA. The 26-year-old has been in sensational form in Miami this week, not dropping a single set on her way to the final, putting herself a step closer to winning the tournament for the first-time in her career.
Notably, this will be the second straight final in the US hard courts for Aryna Sabalenka after losing to Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva at the Indian Wells in California earlier this month. In her first appearance in the final of the Miami Open in Florida, the Belarusian will be hoping to keep the current form going, to get the hands on yet another WTA 1000 trophy in her career.
Super happy that I was able to give myself another opportunity to hold a trophy: Aryna Sabalenka
In the semi-final of the Miami Open, Aryna Sabalenka pulverised Jasmine Paolini with power-packed serves along with an impressive array of groundstrokes, to finish off the match in just one hour and 13 minutes. She was quoted as saying about her performance, as per BBC Sport, “Super happy that I was able to give myself another chance, another final, another opportunity to hold a trophy. She's an incredible player so I knew I would have to work for every point.”
During the other match in the last four stages in the tournament, Jessica Pegula got the better of Alexandra Eala of Philippines in a tough three-set battle with a scoreline of 7-6 (7-3) 5-7 6-3. The 19-year-old, who is 140th ranked player in the WTA Rankings, defeated the likes of Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys, and Iga Swiatek, three of the Grand Slam winners on tour, to reach the semi-final of the Miami Open.
