AFP, MIAMI GARDENS, Florida
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday powered her way to the Miami Open title, beating American Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 in the WTA 1000 event at Hard Rock Stadium.
The title was the Belarusian’s first at Miami and her second of the season following her January triumph in Brisbane.
After losing the final at Indian Wells to Russian 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva earlier this month, Sabalenka was determined not to fall at the last hurdle again.
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus serves against Jessica Pegula in their women’s singles final of the Miami Open in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Saturday.
Photo: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images / USA Today
“I’m super happy to have this trophy, I was able to play my best tennis in the final,” said Sabalenka, who paid tribute to Pegula’s performance after repeating her win over her from last year’s US Open final.
In her past 14 matches against top 10 players, Sabalenka has won 12, which she credited to her mastering the temper that once plagued her performances.
In the past, Sabalenka would react to a break of serve or moments of frustration with anger and sometimes loud displays of her annoyance with herself, but there was no sign of such loss of cool against Pegula
She said she had made a conscious decision to cut out the antics when the game was in difficult moments.
“One day, I just decided: ‘OK, whatever happens on the court, I’m not gonna show my emotions.’ I went through a lot, and there is much more difficult stuff in life than just any smash, so I was like: ‘OK, whatever happens, I’m not gonna show any emotions. I’m done with that,’” she said.
“I don’t wanna be that kid who’s like, keeps getting frustrated and losing the matches — and it worked really well,” she said.
Meanwhile, at the Charleston Open, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching was knocked out in women’s singles qualifying 6-2, 6-1 by Elvina Kalieva of the US.
The Taiwanese is seeded second with Russian partner Veronika Kudermetova in women’s doubles. They are to face Harriet Dart of the UK and Giuliana Olmos of Mexico in the opening round.
Chan’s compatriot Wu Fang-hsien and her Chinese partner Jiang Xinyu, who were eliminated in the semi-finals in Miami, are to open their Charleston campaign with a match against the American duo of Hailey Baptiste and Caty McNally.
Additional reporting by staff writer
