Aryna Sabalenka cruises past Jessica Pegula to win Miami Open

Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka recorded 31 winners while sailing to a 7-5, 6-2 victory over fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula on Saturday to win the Miami Open for the first time in her career.

Sabalenka, ranked No. 1 in the world, saved 7 of 11 break points while winning her 19th career title and eighth at the 1000 level.

The Belarusian now lives in Miami but found herself still having to win over the crowd while playing against a popular American.

“Thank god the rain stopped,” Sabalenka said oncourt after the win.

“It was like Miami was crying that I won this tournament. I enjoyed playing here, every minute of it.”

World No. 4 Pegula won three straight games in the opening set to take a 3-2 lead.

But Sabalenka won the next three games en route to winning the set.

Pegula won the opener of the second set before Sabalenka won four straight games to take control. Sabalenka closed it out in 88 minutes.

She was proud of the victory after losing finals in the Australian Open (Madison Keys) and at Indian Wells (Mirra Andreeva) earlier this year.

“Finally I was able to play my best tennis in the final, and I’m just super happy with the result and with the performance,” Sabalenka said.

The thought of another finals loss was on Sabalenka’s mind a lot in recent days.

“Going into this match, I had the mentality that no matter what happens, if she’s gonna break me, I had the mentality to stay there, to focus on myself, to fight for every point no matter what,” Sabalenka said.

“I didn’t want to lose another final, to be honest. It’s really tough to lose in the final. So if someone would say that, I’d be, like, ‘OK, it’s going to be a battle, I’m ready for that.’

“ A disappointed Pegula fell to 2-7 all-time against Sabalenka, including a loss in the 2024 US Open final.

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka cruises into first Miami final

“Congrats to you, Aryna, and your team,” Pegula said oncourt. “I really, really don’t want to like you right now.

But, you know, you’re the best player in the world for a reason.

And you keep pushing everybody and everyone to get better.“

Pegula saved 9 of 16 break points but committed three double faults and converted just 48.9 percent (23 of 47) first-serve points. She had just 12 winners.