Sabalenka powers to maiden Miami Open title

By Harvey Fialkov

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Aryna Sabalenka came into the Miami Open presented by Itau with a huge chip on her shoulder after losing finals in the Australian Open and then recently at the Indian Wells Masters 1000.

So 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 Jessica Pegula to win her first Miami Open Masters 1000 on a breezy, overcast Saturday afternoon.

“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,’’ said Sabalenka, who won her 19th title, 17 on her beloved hard courts, and eighth Masters 1000 crown. “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.”

Pegula, 31, also was extra pumped up to beat Sabalenka, after losing to her in the finals at Cincinnati (1000) and in the US Open last summer, which was her first major final. After all, Pegula has won seven titles, all on hard courts.

“We’re all measuring each other against each other,” said Pegula, who’s 2-7 against Sabalenka, including three losses in a row, all straight-setters. “When someone’s really dominant, Iga [Swiatek] we had that one year, I feel she couldn’t lose, and now it feels like the last year Aryna has, especially on the hard courts, has been kind of unstoppable virtually.

“I definitely like embracing that challenge, although I am getting a little annoyed with playing her. I don’t know if I would have won if I played someone else. But, man, I mean, it’s three titles. Come on.”

Sabalenka, 26, didn’t drop a set in any of her six matches as she mowed down a murderer’s row of opponents, including 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.

It’s only the second time in Sabalenka’s career that she was able to topple three Top 10 players in a single event, dating back to the 2022 WTA Finals (Pegula, Ons Jabeur and Swiatek).

After exchanging a combined seven service breaks in a bizarre first set that seemed to favor the returner, Sabalenka, once considered a power player only, displayed her versatility in the critical 5-6 game.

She showed off her recently added finesse when she angled off a decent drop shot from the Buffalo native for a 0-15 lead. From there, she ripped a backhand laser winner down the line. She continued to attack Pegula’s backhand in the corner, which resulted in a ferocious swinging volley winner that was accompanied by Sabalenka’s trademark guttural, elongated scream.

Finally, on her first set point, she pulverized her forehand cross court that Pegula couldn’t handle. She finished with 31 winners to just 12 for Pegula, while scattering 36 unforced errors to Pegula’s 27. It was Sabalenka’s high-bouncing kick serve that enabled the 5-11 Belarusian to win 55 percent of her second serves.

“It’s not like I’m winning it easily,’’ said Sabalenka, just the second Belarusian to win Miami, joining three-time champion Victoria Azarenka. “It’s always a challenge playing her. But I know it’s tough to lose against one player all the time. I had this issue with Iga, so I know how it feels. But I think we all push each other to the next level, and we all improve from these tough lessons.

“So, I’m excited facing her again, hopefully another final, and, I mean, of course I’m going to try my best to keep winning.”

It was sort of a hometown tournament for both players as Sabalenka has adopted Miami as her second home, while Pegula has lived in Boca Raton since she was 13.

It’s no secret that Pegula’s family owns the Buffalo Bills (and Buffalo Sabres), and not only was her father Terry in a packed Hard Rock Stadium, so was NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, both in town for next week’s NFL owner’s meetings.

Usually the Pegulas own this stadium, having gone 8-3 here since they purchased the Bills in 2015, but Jessica -– the last American standing of the original 20 that were in the draw — needed a lot more extra points to keep up with her 5-foot-11 stronger opponent.

In the second set, Pegula again broke Sabalenka in the first game, but the top seed answered immediately with one of her seven breaks (converted 7-of-16 break points), thanks to two of Pegula’s three double-faults. Pegula leaned on her racket in disgust. Then at 2-1, Sabalenka crushed consecutive forehand and backhand winners for a 3-1 lead.

“I feel like she just keeps coming up with raising her level in key moments of the match when she needs to, and I feel like that was the big difference today and the last few times I have played her,’’ said Pegula, who has won three Masters 1000s. “We are obviously both very good returners, but I think she was able to manage her serve a little bit better and get out of some really long games, whereas I felt like in my service games I was just behind.

“I just felt like she just was able to kind of hit the lines when she needed to, hit that big serve or one-two punch when she needed to.

“When something goes off, it maybe goes off for a point or two and then it’s back. She’s really good at being aggressive off the first ball and not letting you kind of dictate the point.

“I think her movement’s gotten a lot better, and then she added more slice, drop shots. She’s gotten kind of better at those intangible shots … that makes her aggressive game play even more successful.”

Pegula served at 2-5, and on the second match point, Sablalenka ended a baseline rally with a clean backhand bullet down the line and raised her arms high before going over to hug her huge entourage.

“I felt all the support throughout this week,’’ said Sabalenka, who heard several chants of A-R-Y-N-A in the massive arena. “This trophy is a very special trophy. If I would lose today, it would be so tough to come back home and stay there … because everything would remind me about the Miami Open, so I’m super happy to come back home as the champion of the tournament.

“I’ll just have good vibes only for the next couple of weeks of preparation for the clay courts. It’s super special.

“I think we should celebrate, because we struggled after those tough finals. We all were kind of, like, depressed. I think after this final, we have to celebrate a little bit just to remember the moment.

“[Dobel] Tequila, yes, of course. I didn’t say that. It was just obvious in my head. It’s going to be tequila. I’m getting older. Before I would celebrate with some sugar stuff. Nowadays it’s alcohol. I hope I’m not going to become alcoholic, but if I will, it means that I had a lot of trophies to celebrate. So I can sacrifice that.”