Miami: Aryna Sabalenka captured her maiden Miami Open title after beating over America’s Jessica Pegula in the final.
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.
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).
“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.
“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.
“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.
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). IANS
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