With the 6:2, 4:6, 6:3 win, the world number one from Belarus not only secured her 24th singles title, but also the prestigious “Sunshine Double”. Only five players had previously managed to win the titles in Indian Wells and Miami in one year, including the German Steffi Graf (1994 and 1996).
In front of her home crowd in Miami, Coco Gauff was slow to get into the game and had little to counter Aryna Sabalenka’s dominant performance. Cheered on by family and fans in the Hard Rock Stadium, Gauff fought back and was able to inflict the first set loss on the Belarusian at this WTA Masters. The fact that it wasn’t enough was due to the high number of errors in the decisive third set and the favorite’s early break.
The currently best tennis player in the world played her way to the final without much effort, whereas Gauff had to go through three sets in many rounds. This was also due to the weakness in the American’s game. No player on the WTA tour produced more double faults than her in 2025 (431). So it wasn’t surprising that Gauff gave her opponent the perfect introduction to the final.
Sabalenka wins the first set in a hurry
Sabalenka got a break straight away and continued to dominate the game, delivering her first serves powerfully and hardly making any mistakes. With her brothers Codey and Cameron cheering her on, Gauff got her second serve (1:2) and then put her opponents in trouble for the first time. But the world number one only wobbled briefly and consistently secured her break lead.
Because Gauff couldn’t switch off her tendency to make mistakes, Sabalenka hurried to win the set 6-2 in just 37 minutes. The 27-year-old drove the local hero across the field, played dominantly and dominated the majority of the rallies. That changed at the start of the second set when Gauff broke her first serve game. On Sabalenka’s subsequent serve, the 22-year-old earned her first break point, but missed the chance due to two simple errors.
Gauff struggles with his own error rate
The game was more open despite the missed break chance. Gauff, who was born in Florida, clenched her fist more and more often after winning balls, animated the audience and seemed to fight her way into the game little by little. But it was precisely at these moments that Gauff made her second double fault.
The frustration of Gauff, who was placed fourth, was not only clearly visible, the stability of the racket was also tested intensively. But because Sabalenka also left points, Gauff was able to avert a preliminary decision and increased the score to 3:2. It continued in step until the score was 5:4, with both athletes offering the fans a game worth seeing in the well-filled Hard Rock Stadium.
The American Coco Gauff repeatedly struggled with herself and her own mistakes
Above all, Gauff, who showed clear improvement in the second set and continued to put the previously confident Sabalenka in trouble. And after around 90 minutes and the first break chance, he took the second set (6:4). But the favorite was undeterred by the first set loss of this tournament and started the third round again with a break.
Sabalenka is unimpressed by the atmosphere
Both were now playing good tennis, but Gauff continued to chase after the early break. In the increasingly noisy arena, Sabalenka received a warning because the 27-year-old had asked the fans too harshly to remain silent during the serves.
But even these incidents did not dissuade Sabalenka from holding her serve to make it 5:3. Gauff tried everything to equalize the deficit, but her opponent appeared too calm in the crucial moments. Under pressure, the favorite jumped over Gauff and secured the first match point. The young American then scored the decisive point for her when Gauff passed the ball unchallenged and completed the sunshine double for Sabalenka.
