World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus never lost her serve en route to a 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 6 seed Jasmina Paolini of Italy on Thursday, securing her first trip to the Miami Open final.
Reaching her 12th career WTA 1000 final, Sabalenka - a three-time Grand Slam champion - never trailed against Piolini and has won their last three meetings without dropping a set.
“I’m super happy with the level I played today,” Sabalenka said. “Of course super happy to be in my first Miami Open final.
Sabalenka served six aces, converted four of her five break points and notched 31 winners and just 12 unforced errors in the one-hour, 11-minute dominant victory.
The match was only tied twice, at 1-1 in both sets. “I definitely would say that this was one of the best matches in the season so far,” said Sabalenka, who hasn’t lost a set in the tournament.
“I don’t know. I was just so focused on myself, on the things I had to do today. It felt like everything was just, like, going smoothly my way.”
In Saturday’s final, Sabalenka will face the winner of Thursday night’s semifinal match between No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula and teenage wild card Alexandra Eala of the Philippines.
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“I usually go for dinner, but other than that, it’s always tennis on my TV, actually,” Sabalenka said when asked if she would watch the Pegula-Eala match or go out for dinner in Miami, where she now lives. “I’m actually enjoying, like, watching tennis lately.
That’s crazy. I’m getting old.“
Sabalenka became the sixth woman to reach the finals on both stops of the “Sunshine Swing” in the same season. She lost to Mirra Andreeva in the final at Indian Wells earlier this month.
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