Aryna Sabalenka has clinched her 19th career title by winning the final match of the Miami Open against Jessica Pegula, 7-5, 6-2. It is the eighth WTA 1000 tournament won by Sabalenka but her first-ever title in Miami. It was a statement performance throughout the whole week by the world number one, who won all her matches in straight sets, defeating three top-10 players on the road to the title.
Sabalenka Scrapes Through Tricky Final
The windy conditions did not help make the final match a great spectacle from the start. The opening set was full of serving vulnerabilities and errors from both sides. The lead on the scoreboard kept switching between players—Sabalenka started with an early break but then allowed Pegula to come back level. Regrouping after this, she built the gap again, serving for the set at 5-3, but lost her serve once more. Finally, the set was decided after a very poor serving game from Pegula, who did not manage to force a tiebreak. Despite Pegula being the one to break early in the second set, Sabalenka finally clicked into a rhythm, playing dominant tennis over the following games, giving the American no chance to come back.
While the serve was a weakness for both finalists, the match featured some really interesting rallies, showcasing the variety of tools displayed by the world number one. Sabalenka was able to use slices effectively, not just rushing to end points with early solutions. Pegula's second serve was much more vulnerable to the powerful strikes of her opponent. The fourth seed will need to put in significant work on her service points unless they are ended by Sabalenka's errors caused by miscalibrated power.
The Best Performer Leads the Race
The victory in Miami is a great reward for Sabalenka after her bitter losses in the finals of the Australian Open and Indian Wells. This also changes the outlook on the hard-court campaign for the world number one, who ends this period of the season at the absolute top. It also affects the dynamics of the WTA Race in 2025, where Sabalenka moves into the lead. She has now reached the finals of the three most important events of 2025, and despite a weaker run of form during February's Middle East swing, she has proven she is still the one to beat on hard courts.
The balance of power at the top of the WTA field was unclear before the Miami Open, with at least four contenders in the race for the top spot. However, Sabalenka remained unshaken while her main opponents struggled with form. Iga Swiatek appears lost in the decisive phases of big tournaments, both technically and mentally. Madison Keys made the most of her great form in Melbourne, but her Sunshine Double campaign was marked by two very tough losses—against Sabalenka and Alexandra Eala, who also handed Swiatek one of the most bitter losses of her career. Mirra Andreeva remains a contender for top titles in the near future, but she seemed somewhat overloaded in Miami after a string of strong performances headlined by victories in Dubai and Indian Wells.
The performance chart for this season confirms Sabalenka's dominance, as she remains at least half a step ahead of the rest of the field in both consistency and efficiency. Jessica Pegula has had a strong season as well, highlighted by a WTA 250 title and several deep runs in bigger events, making her the fifth-best player of 2025 so far, just behind those who have achieved the most this season.
Ranking Movements
Aryna Sabalenka breaks the 10,000-point barrier, holding a massive lead of over 3,000 points ahead of Iga Swiatek in the new WTA rankings. The top 10 has seen a few reshuffles—Paula Badosa returns to the ninth spot at the expense of Emma Navarro, who temporarily drops back to 11th. Elena Rybakina slides down to 10th after losing a significant number of points due to an early exit in Miami, failing to defend her final run from last year. As expected, last year's Miami winner Danielle Collins was unable to repeat her performance, causing her to drop to the 22nd spot. Her chances of returning to the top 20 anytime soon appear uncertain, as she has many points to defend on clay, and her form in 2025 so far has been far from great.
The biggest beneficiary of the Miami Open is surely Alexandra Eala. The Filipina, who experienced a fairytale run in Miami, jumps 65 places, moving from 140th to 75th in the rankings. Another notable mention is Ashlyn Krueger. The 20-year-old American achieves her career-high ranking of 34th after a strong run in Miami and a solid season so far—currently ranked 19th in the WTA Race, knocking on the door to compete for big titles in the near future.
As mentioned earlier, the WTA Race is now led by Sabalenka (3,5k points), who overtakes Madison Keys (3k) for the first time since the Australian Open. The top tier is now more defined, with Andreeva (2,5k), Swiatek (2,3k), and Pegula (1,8k) forming a clear leading group. Below them, the "peloton" led by Clara Tauson in sixth place consists of several players down to 12th-ranked Belinda Bencic, with minimal point differences of under 200 separating them ahead of the clay season.
