Aryna Sabalenka continued her dominance of the WTA Tour at the Miami Open as she became the fifth woman to complete the Sunshine Double.
Sabalenka defeated Elena Rybakina in the Indian Wells final earlier this month, before doing the same to Coco Gauff at the Miami Open.
She has now followed in the footsteps of Steffi Graf, Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka, and most recently Iga Swiatek in 2022.
The WTA number one dropped just one set en route to lifting the trophy, knocking out the likes of Rybakina and Qinwen Zheng before edging past Gauff 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
Her latest display has now caught the eye of Rick Macci, who used to coach tennis legend Serena Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam champion.
Aryna Sabalenka is now the — best women’s player of all time
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Rick Macci praises Aryna Sabalenka after Miami Open title
Macci wrote on X: “Sab is so tough to play because the three big ticket items she orders on the menu.
“Serve, forehand, backhand all top three in the world technically.
“Most of all her mindset is to run the show deal the cards and control the baseline during rallies is a constant appetizer and munch on second serves is the tasty dessert.”
It is, as always, a lateral analysis from Macci, but his comments certainly ring true after another amazing run from Sabalenka.
She was clearly challenged by Gauff in Miami, but ultimately deserved the victory, as evidenced by the points figures from the final.
| Aryna Sabalenka | Coco Gauff | |
| 69.2% 54/78 | Total service points won | 59.2% 58/98 |
| 40.8% 40/98 | Total return points won | 30.8% 24/78 |
| 53.4% 94/176 | Total points won | 46.6% 82/176 |
Her superb ability with her serve, forehand and backhand has now helped produce 24 career titles, although her fantastic mental strength has also been crucial.
Moreover, while the big-hitting Belarusian often relies on power and aggression, she has shown time and again that she can remain calm and composed when it really matters.
Jannik Sinner told he is doing something never seen before in tennis
On the ATP Tour, Jannik Sinner now has the chance to do exactly what Sabalenka has done at the Miami Open.
After clinching the Indian Wells title, the Italian is now eyeing the Sunshine Double with a Miami Open final win over Jiri Lehecka.
Ahead of the match, he has also received big praise from Macci, who wrote on X: “Sinner and his uncanny ability to cover real estate and then extend, bend and resend to the other end is a skill set we have never seen.
“The Italian spider is a glider and creates enormous racket head juice even on the stretch the flamethrower is still loose.”
Who is the better hard court player – Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner?
Sinner enters his match with Lehecka as the strong favorite, while he has won all three of their previous meetings.
The second seed at the Miami Open, Sinner beat Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6(7-4) to reach the final, while 21st seed Lehecka secured a hugely impressive 6-2, 6-2 win over Arthur Fils.
Sinner would become the eighth man to complete the Sunshine Double, emulating Jim Courier, Michael Chang, Pete Sampras, Marcelo Rios, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
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