Aryna Sabalenka is one win away from completing the Sunshine Double, but she has to get through one more blockbuster battle to accomplish the feat.
After defeating world No. 2 Elena Rybakina in the semifinals, the top-ranked Sabalenka will go up against Coco Gauff in the Miami Open championship match on Saturday. World No. 1 vs. world No. 4; 1000-point title on the line; a 6-6 tie in the head-to-head series. Outside of Grand Slams, it really does not get much bigger than this.
Sabalenka has held a slight upper hand in the matchup of late. She has won five of their last eight meetings and most recently defeated Gauff 7-6(5), 6-2 at the 2025 WTA Finals. She has also gotten the best of the American in each of their last two outdoor hard-court contests.
Nobody is playing better than Sabalenka at the moment — not even close. The Belarusian fell to Rybakina in the Australian Open final, but that is her only loss of the entire season. Sabalenka comes into this match with a 22-1 record following Miami victories over Ann Li, Caty McNally, Qinwen Zheng, Hailey Baptiste, and Rybakina. Li forced an opening tiebreaker, but no other set has been more competitive than 6-4.
Gauff went arrived in Miami on the heels of an arm injury in Indian Wells and she has already been tested in four three-set matches. The 22-year-old erased Karolina Muchova 6-1, 6-1 on Thursday, but that matchup is so bad for Muchova that the result can almost be thrown out the window.
Based on current form and recent head-to-head history, Sabalenka can be expected to win a second consecutive WTA Premier 1000 title.
Pick: Sabalenka in 2
Jaromir Jagr watching Lehecka.