Aryna Sabalenka has continued her hard-court success at the Miami Open, beating Jessica Pegula to lift the trophy.
Iga Swiatek knows how well Sabalenka is playing, with the latter not dropping a single set en route to the Miami Open title.
Pegula has been told to improve her serve after losing to Sabalenka, with the American having fallen to a 7-5, 6-2 defeat.
WTA number one Sabalenka now has 19 tour-level titles to her name, 17 of which have come on hard courts.
She needed one hour and 28 minutes to beat Pegula, with the former extending her head-to-head lead over the latter to 7-2 with the win.
Aryna Sabalenka predicts more finals with Jessica Pegula after Miami Open
A delighted Sabalenka had plenty of people to thank upon receiving the trophy, with her opponent also highlighted in her winning speech on court.
“Yeah, first of all Jess, I’m so sorry for real,” said the champion, as per Tennis Channel. “If I could share the trophy with someone, trophy, prize money, points, everything, I would definitely share it with you.
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“I’m sorry for that. But you’re an incredible player, you always push me so hard to play my best. I mean, I don’t know, you’re a great player, congrats to you and your team on an incredible couple of weeks.
“And yeah, I always enjoy playing against you, and it’s always great battles, great matches, great level of tennis, and continue doing what you are doing and I’m pretty sure we are going to play many more finals.
“I’m not sure about the result, because honestly I don’t want to lose in the finals, that sucks I know. But I always enjoy playing against you.
“You’re a really incredible person, player, thank you so much. Wow that was long, you see how much I like this girl.”
Jessica Pegula issues hilarious social media message despite Miami Open final loss
Sabalenka found herself on the receiving end of back-to-back defeats in her last two finals, a rare occurrence for the world number one.
She lost the Australian Open final to Madison Keys in January, before losing the Indian Wells final to Mirra Andreeva earlier this month.
But that run has now been put to an abrupt halt against Pegula, who can be proud of her run at the Miami Open.
And despite the loss, the world number four was in high spirits post-match, crashing Sabalenka’s interview with Tennis Channel, where she took her margarita.
The Belarusian then shared the video on her Instagram story with the words “This is why I love Jessica Pegula”, who then wrote on her Instagram story: “My win of the day.”
The match and indeed outcome represented a repeat of their 2024 US Open final, where second seed Sabalenka beat sixth seed Pegula 7-5, 7-5.
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