Coco Gauff left Miami with more affirmation than anguish despite losing the final to Aryna Sabalenka, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and 10 minutes. The 22-year-old, ranked No. 4, was the youngest American in the Miami final since Serena Williams more than two decades ago and the first player in the event to take a set off the top-ranked Belarussian.

Gauff arrived at the tournament after a modest start to the season, 11-5 with no finals, and she bucked advice from her support team to skip Miami after retiring at Indian Wells with shooting pains in her left arm. “I just wasn’t in the right mindset leaving Indian Wells,” she said after an early-round win. When asked why she stayed, she added: “You know, life happens. You just realize, you know, if I had the opportunity to play this tournament, I’d rather take it up. Because you don’t know what’s gonna happen. Tomorrow is not a promise. I just want to make sure I make decisions that I know I won’t regret in the future.”

The run to the final included four three-set victories and a one-sided semifinal over former Roland Garros runner-up Karolina Muchova. Gauff opened eyes with movement and relentlessness that Sabalenka acknowledged: “Oh, my God. Her movement is something else. Going into matches against her, I know that there is always going to be an extra ball. It’s all about stay focused and be ready for an extra ball to come back. [Her] movement is something else, you know. I wish I could move even like 70% from what she has, [that] would be enough for me.”

Technically there were loose edges. Gauff struggled with a shaky second serve and forehand return at times, and she committed seven double faults in the final. Analysts traced her serving troubles to a toss issue that is considered fixable. Still, Andrea Petkovic captured the essence of Gauff’s week: “Coco just did what she does so well. She just competes and competes and competes. No matter how well the opponent is playing, how much she is zoning. She just competes and waits for a chance. And she got her chance.”

With clay next on the calendar, Gauff arrives as a defending champion on that surface and confident that parts of her game are clicking. “Earlier this year I felt that I was practicing well and just waiting for it to click. And I think it’s not obviously fully clicked, but I think it is clicking.” She also reflected on the week: “I felt a lot of joy this week. . . I felt a lot of gratitude.”

Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 1, defeated Coco Gauff 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to claim the Miami Open title and complete the rare Sunshine Double. The win in Miami follows her triumph at Indian Wells two weeks earlier, giving Sabalenka consecutive victories at the season’s two biggest hard-court events in the U.S.

The three-set final provided a clear arc: Sabalenka asserted control in the opening set, Gauff fought back in the second, and Sabalenka closed it out in the decider to lift her second straight Miami trophy. The result not only marked another big-title addition for Sabalenka but also placed her among an exclusive group of women who have captured both Indian Wells and Miami in the same season.

Sabalenka is just the fifth woman to accomplish the Sunshine Double since the opportunity to win both events on the women’s tour began in 1989, when Indian Wells joined Miami on the WTA calendar. Completing that sweep in the same year remains one of the more uncommon and notable achievements on the WTA schedule.

The sequence of victories at Indian Wells and Miami underscores Sabalenka’s form across consecutive weeks at high-profile hard-court tournaments. Her run combined a strong start, the resilience to answer when challenged, and the ability to finish decisively in a third set of the final.

The title in Miami adds to a season-defining stretch for Sabalenka and reinforces her position at the top of the rankings. The photo credit for coverage of the event is © Mauricio Paiz/NurPhoto.

Jannik Sinner extended his dominance over Alexander Zverev with a 6-3, 7-6(4) victory in the Miami Open semifinal. The match lasted 1 hour and 53 minutes and pushed the world No. 2’s sets-won streak in ATP Masters 1000 events to 32 as he moves one match away from completing the Sunshine Double.

The result continued two significant runs for Sinner. He has now won his last 16 matches at ATP Masters 1000 events and has beaten Zverev seven consecutive times. He has not dropped a set in his 1000-level winning streak, a run that carries him into Sunday’s final with Jiri Leheck standing in his path.

A title in Miami would make Sinner the first man since Roger Federer in 2017 to win Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back. Sinner also prevailed against Zverev in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open earlier in the swing, though he emphasised that the two events felt different.

“two completely different tournaments.”

Reflecting on his week in Miami during his on-court interview, Sinner outlined his priorities and his satisfaction at reaching another final. “Coming here and trying to produce some good tennis was my main goal, and standing here again in the final means very much to me,” he said. “We’ll try to push now in a couple of days, but in any case, it has been an incredible swing … couldn’t be better, and I’m very happy.”

With the Sunshine Double within reach, Sinner arrives at the final carrying both confidence and an unbeaten run at 1000-level events. His Miami win underlined the consistency behind that streak and set up a final in which history is a realistic target.