Mar 27, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; Aryna Sabalenka celebrates after her match against Jasmine Paolini (ITA)(not pictured) after a women's singles semifinal on day ten of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium.

tennis

Dominant Aryna Sabalenka Thrashes Jasmine Paolini to Reach Maiden Miami Open Final

She will face fourth seed Jessica Pegula in the final on Saturday.

Aryna Sabalenka showed the world why she is the world’s best player on Thursday, making light work of Jasmine Paolini. The World No. 7 Italian was no match for Aryna, as she could barely string together a run of points. Sabalenka crushed her competitor to advance to her first ever Miami Open final with a 6-2 6-2 score line.

In what she described as one of her best matches, Sabalenka continued her rich vein of form. She has made a stunning comeback after losing to Mirra Andreeva in the Indian Wells final. The Belarusian is known to be a proven match-winner, but often sees herself falling short in the summit clashes.

Aryna Sabalenka’s mental and physical fortitude will be put to test on Saturday when she faces home favourite Jessica Pegula of the USA in the final. It will be the first final at this event for both players.

Aryna Sabalenka With a Ruthless Display in Miami Open Semifinal

In a mere 1 hour 11 minutes affair, Aryna Sabalenka stormed into the Miami Open final. She made Jasmine Paolini look clueless on court – something that can seldom be associated with the Italian. After all, the sixth seed beat the likes of Naomi Osaka and Magda Linette (who beat Coco Gauff) to reach the semifinal stage.

Sabalenka never trailed Paolini throughout the encounter. Serving six aces and winning almost 78% of her first serve points, the three-time major winner stamped her authority in the Sunshine State. While Paolini could save a solitary 1/5 break points (20%), Sabalenka’s 4/4 break point saves made the difference.

“I definitely would say this was one of the best matches in the season so far. I don’t know, I was just so focused on myself; on the things I had to do today,” the World No. 1 commandingly said in the aftermath of her victory.

Sabalenka Gunning for Glory in Debut Miami Final

The win means that Aryna Sabalenka has entered her first ever Miami Open final in her career. She is just the sixth woman in history to reach the final of both ‘Sunshine Double’ events in the same season. “I really feel this time I’m going to do better than I did in the last two finals,” the 26-year-old demanded.

Sabalenka, who lost two heartbreaking finals at the Australian Open and Indian Wells this year (to Madison Keys and Mirra Andreeva), aims to put a stop to the finals rut. “The lessons [from those losses] I believe was to focus on myself, not on what’s going on the other side,” Aryna concluded.

22 – Aryna Sabalenka has 22 wins this season, the most of any player at WTA level in 2025. Leader. #MiamiOpen | @MiamiOpen @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/9ctqqtb2ci
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) March 27, 2025

Jessica Pegula awaits Sabalenka in what proposes to be a gargantuan final. It will be a maiden Miami Open final for both stars, and a rematch of the 2024 US Open final.

Aryna Sabalenka

Jasmime Paolini

Jessica Pegula

Miami Open

Tennis

WTA

Sankalp Harikrishnan

A passionate sports fan through and through, I am currently pursuing my MA in Global Sports Journalism. I specialise in tennis and football writing at The Playoffs News, and I have prior experience working at EssentiallySports and Sportskeeda. Born and raised in Bengaluru, India, sport was my safe space right from my childhood. After trying my hand at multiple sports and representing my educational institutions in cricket, badminton and table tennis, I found sports media to be my calling.