Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula will compete in Saturday's final of Miami Open. Both the players approach the title match at Hard Rock Stadium for the first time in their careers. The finalists came out on top of their semis encounters where both were favorites, and deservedly reached out the big final, being the best and most consistent players in their halves of draw. This will be also the revenge for a big final of last year's US Open, where Sabalenka denied Pegula to win her career's maiden Grand Slam on Flushing Meadows.
Sabalenka's breakthrough in Miami
Quite surprisingly, the world number one always struggled in Miami, never reaching out at least the phase of semifinals yet. Sabalenka's season so far was very solid, but underlined with two disappointments in final matches of Australian Open and Indian Wells, where she failed to convert her great runs in whole events into clinching the trophy. The observers could wonder, if the collapse in the final of event in California will not translate into poor form in Miami, while recovering from tough upset from Mirra Andreeva, and not a great story of performances in Florida.
Sabalenka has proved those concerns wrong, capitalizing on a formidable draw, where despite facing three players from top 15 of rankings, all of them were suitable for her related playstyle and history of preceeding meetings. Jasmine Paolini managed two win 2 out of 5 matches against the Belarusian in their H2H story, but had no chance on Thursday's semifinal encounter. This was not about her performance though, but due to the exceptional form displayed by Sabalenka, who possibly played one of her best matches in the season so far. The stunning display of 31 winners to just 12 errors, purely efficient powerful striking and some tricky shots during rallies were not to handle to Paolini. The Italian also played a clean match with 19 winners to 9 unforced errors, but it was not enough to resist Sabalenka's highest gears, who won it all by 6-2 6-2.
Pegula ends run of upsets
No one could underestimate Alexandra Eala after the miracelous run she performed in Miami, and ahead the semifinal against Jessica Pegula, it was bold to say the Filipina has no chances to extend her fairytale run into the final. Pegula had to dig deep to prevent getting tracked on Eala's list of upsets. The match started well for the 19 years-old, who was up by 5-3 and was serving for the set, having even a setpoint which unfortunately for her ended with double fault. Pegula managed to force a tiebreak, where she grabbed this set, but the youngster did not give up and won another competitive set between both by 7-5. Pegula played some methodical tennis in decisive set, winning it by 6-3 and moving into her first final in Miami after being the semifinalist two times earlier - in 2023 and 2022. Both the players were very happy after this match, as Pegula really cared for the win, and Eala could be nothing than proud of herself for the historic underdog run, which takes the spotlight on her for the nearest future.
Third time's a charm as a favorite?
Aryna Sabalenka will be a favorite of Saturday's final. She did not lose a set on the whole road to this pinacle point, and her stunning performance in semifinal was the sign of her comeback to stellar form. The only question marks lay on the mental side, as she already approached two big finals this year, and lost both despite the role of quite a clear favorite. Pegula had to work hard for the place in this final, playing 3 three-setters and spending much more time on court. This was surely more draining road to Saturday's match physically and mentally, but Pegula has also showed some clean and comprehensive performances during this week. Knowing her trademark of consistency, she will surely not be an easy opponent for world number one. However, their H2H is very positive for Sabalenka who won 6 out of 8 direct duels. Two last ones took place in last year on hard, the latest being US Open final won by Sabalenka after two competitive sets by 7-5 7-5.
