Aryna Sabalenka extended a spring winning streak and produced a commanding semifinal performance to advance to her second straight Miami Open final. The top seed followed a quarterfinal where she said she was playing at a “good 8” on a 10-point scale and still had room to improve by producing a wire-to-wire 6-4, 6-3 victory over her chief rival, world No. 2 Elena Rybakina.

Sabalenka won six consecutive games at one stage and closed out the match in straight sets. The result was her 10th victory in 17 meetings with Rybakina, and only the second time she has beaten her in straight sets. A former Top 10 player called the match Sabalenka’s best performance of the tournament thus far. The top seed displayed more than raw power, mixing serve effectiveness with a fuller array of shots to finish the job and reach the final.

After the match Sabalenka said she thought she “did everything right” to win again against Rybakina, coming less than two weeks after saving a match point against the same opponent to win the BNP Paribas Open. “I really enjoy our rivalry. She’s an incredible player, always pushes to me to the limit,” she said. “With her, you have to bring your best tennis, and that’s why I was able to pull our such great tennis today.”

“She played great, but I pushed her so much, so I’m proud with this win,” Sabalenka added. “It’s always tough, physically and mentally, and I’m happy to get another win against her.”

Waiting in the final will be No. 3 seed Coco Gauff. The pair have split 12 career meetings, with Gauff holding a 2-1 edge in championship matches. Gauff has stated she wants this title as much as a Grand Slam, and Sabalenka will aim to become the fifth woman in the Open Era to follow an Indian Wells title with Miami in the same season.

A draw that once promised Carlos Alcaraz versus Novak Djokovic has shifted: Djokovic withdrew, Alcaraz fell to Seb Korda, and the unexpected meeting ahead is between the 21st and 28th seeds, Arthur Fils and Jiri Lehecka. The matchup lacks the marquee names once anticipated, but on form and style it is an appealing contest with a genuine path to a first Masters 1000 final for either player.

They have met three times, all on hard courts, and Fils holds a 2-1 advantage. Two of those matches reached a deciding set with a 6-4 scoreline: Fils prevailed 6-4 in the third in Davis Cup in 2024, while Lehecka returned the favor with a 6-4 third-set win in Toronto last summer.

Lehecka is a textbook ball striker in the Czech tradition: ultra-clean timing on both wings and a polished serve. He wins 75 percent of his first-serve points and averages more than eight aces per match, notable for a player listed at 6’1. Fils channels a more explosive athleticism, generating power with leaping, full swings reminiscent of his countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He has been back on tour full time for a little more than a month, yet is 13-4 in 2026, reached the Doha final, made the Indian Wells quarterfinals, and now stands in his first Masters 1000 semi in Miami.

Each offers a clear case: Lehecka for purity of stroke, Fils for physical tools and growing mental resolve. Lehecka still shows signs of crunch-time nerves; Fils demonstrated grit in his miraculous three-tiebreaker win over Tommy Paul on Wednesday. I will take gritty ambition over pure ball-striking, by a nose. Winner: Fils

Jannik Sinner arrives in the other semi having imposed a near-complete grip on the Sunshine Swing. “We’re trying to understand what’s the best game plan, trying to be in the best possible shape tomorrow, and we see how it goes,” he said. He is 10-0 in matches and 20-0 in sets across Indian Wells and Miami this swing. Two more wins would complete the first Sunshine Double on the men’s side since Roger Federer did it in 2017.

Alexander Zverev provides a stern test, but Sinner has the edge in recent history, owning six straight wins over Zverev dating to 2023. In Indian Wells earlier this month Sinner beat him 6-2, 6-4, serving eight aces, winning 82 percent of his first-serve points and 64 percent of second-serve points compared with Zverev’s 28 percent on second serve. On those metrics Sinner looks the more complete player heading into this rematch.

Jannik Sinner continued his push for a Sunshine Double by defeating Frances Tiafoe 6-2, 6-2 to reach the Miami Open semifinals. The No. 2 seed moved through the match on Stadium Court in one hour and 10 minutes, conceding few opportunities as he advanced to the last four.

Sinner has now won 30 consecutive sets at Masters 1000 events, having bettered Novak Djokovic’s previous record of 24 in the third round. The Italian arrived at Hard Rock Stadium off the back of his BNP Paribas Open title in Indian Wells and was competing for a second Miami trophy after an excellent March run.

The momentum shifted further in Sinner’s favor when world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz exited in the third round to Sebastian Korda, leaving Sinner as the tournament favorite. On his way to the quarterfinals, Sinner beat No. 30 seed Corentin Moutet and Alex Michelsen in straight sets to set up a sixth career meeting with Tiafoe.

Tiafoe, a former Top 10 player, earned his first win over Sinner in 2021 in Vienna and had produced a key victory at this tournament when he dethroned defending champion Jakub Mensik in the third round, toppling the No. 12 seed in a third-set tiebreaker. He followed that with another three-set win over Terence Atmane to reach this stage.

Against Sinner, Tiafoe found himself under pressure early, losing serve in the match’s opening game. He struggled to trouble Sinner’s serve and did not take the Italian to deuce until he trailed by a set and a break. Sinner held his serve, added an insurance break and moved to serve for the semifinal berth.

Sinner surged to triple match point with a well-struck backhand and converted the first to close out the victory, reaching the semifinals in just over an hour.