Making history! Sabalenka defeats Gauff, joins legends to claim Sunshine Double

In the early hours Beijing time today, the 2026 WTA1000 Miami women's singles final concluded. World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka battled through three sets, ultimately winning 6-2/4-6/6-3 against fourth seed Coco Gauff in a match lasting 2 hours and 9 minutes. With this victory, she successfully defended her title, extended her March winning streak to 12 matches to unlock the Sunshine Double, and secured her 11th career WTA1000 singles title (tied with Iga Świątek for the most among active players).

Sabalenka is the first player since Świątek in 2022 to achieve the Sunshine Double (across both men's and women's tennis) and becomes the fifth woman in history to accomplish this feat, following only Steffi Graf, Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka, and Iga Świątek.

Sabalenka stated after the match: "This means a lot to me. My goal has always been to make history, and today I did it. It sounds so unreal, I don't even know how I managed all this, but right now I'm incredibly proud. I'm truly happy to lift this beautiful trophy."

With this win, Sabalenka improved her head-to-head record against Gauff to 7-6. Following the heartbreaking loss in last year's Roland Garros final, Sabalenka has now secured two consecutive victories against Gauff, at the WTA Finals late last year and in Miami this year. However, this encounter with Gauff was far from smooth. Sabalenka dropped her first set of the tournament in the final. Facing Gauff, who repeatedly posed challenges during the match, Sabalenka once again demonstrated her comprehensive technique and composed mentality.

Sabalenka established an early advantage with a break of serve, maintaining a lead throughout the first set and securing it in just 38 minutes. Gauff showed resilience in the second set, preventing her opponent from widening the gap and clinching a crucial break towards the end to level the match at 6-4. However, this was Gauff's only successful break of the entire match. Sabalenka regained dominance in the deciding set, with her powerful serve and baseline shots proving too much for Gauff to handle, ultimately winning 6-3 to seal the victory.

Sabalenka's consecutive weeks as World No.1 will reach 76 next week, surpassing Świątek's record for the longest consecutive streak. She will become the woman with the longest tenure at the top since Ashleigh Barty, who held the position for 114 consecutive weeks from September 2019 to March 2022 (including the ranking freeze during the pandemic).

As the world No.1, Sabalenka delivered a nearly perfect performance sheet for the first quarter of the 2026 season. In the four tournaments she entered, she captured three titles and one runner-up finish (Brisbane champion, Australian Open runner-up, Indian Wells champion, Miami champion), with a total record of 23 wins and 1 loss (only losing to Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final). After successfully defending her title in Miami, Sabalenka's championship points surpassed Rybakina to take the top spot.

Sabalenka's Path to the Title

First Round: Bye

Second Round: 7-6(5)/6-4 vs. Li Jinni

Third Round: 6-4/6-2 vs. McNally

Fourth Round: 6-3/6-4 vs. Zheng Qinwen [23]

Quarterfinal: 6-4/6-4 vs. Baptiste

Semifinal: 6-4/6-3 vs. Rybakina [3]

Final: 6-2/4-6/6-3 vs. Gauff [4]

For runner-up Coco Gauff, although she couldn't lift the championship trophy on home soil, this Miami journey remains significant. The American player had a less satisfactory start to the year but found a turnaround in this tournament, with her form timely recovering just before the clay season begins. Regarding this, she said after the match: "I think it's more important to focus on the process than the outcome. Maybe I haven't had great results here in the past, but in tournaments where I was defending my title, I was thinking about the final from the first round. This week I didn't do that, and I think that's a lesson I can take."

（Text, edited by Wang Fei, photo/Visual China）