There was plenty of star power on the WTA Tour Powered by Mercedes-Benz this past weekend, with three of the top 4 players in the PIF WTA Rankings battling it out for the Miami Open title.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka was the last player standing, achieving the first Sunshine Double sweep on the WTA Tour since 2022. Unlike her, Coco Gauff made great efforts to reach her first career Miami Open final.
Here’s everything that went down on the WTA Tour last week, including our favorite moments and the most notable news.
Star of the Week
Aryna Sabalenka
Another tournament, another star of the week for Sabalenka. Ho-hum — except for one thing. This past week proved to be one of the best months of his life.
After losing all of February, the World No. 1 came back to win Indian Wells for the first time, and followed with his second consecutive title in Miami.
It was a perfect March for Sabalenka, who did not drop a set in Miami until the final against Gauff. But Sabalenka recovered to decide, got a Sunshine Double and confirmed her position at the top.
The four-time Grand Slam champion had to overcome two aggressive opponents to win the title. First it was Elena Rybakina, whom she had defeated 11 days earlier in one of the best matches in recent memory. And against Gauff, he showed courage to come back in the third round to win his 24th title. The win also moved him to 7-6 in his head-to-head career against America.
Sabalenka became the fifth WTA player to sweep the Sunshine Double. She is now 23-1 on the season, and atop the PIF Race to the WTA Pages Leaderboard.
Two Stars of the Week
Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova
Sabalenka wasn’t the only one to complete the Sunshine Double last week in Miami. Townsend and Siniakova beat the top seeded team of Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani 7-6 (0), 6-1 to become the sixth team to win back-to-back Indian Wells and Miami titles. The last team to do this job, coincidentally, was Sabalenka and Elise Mertens in 2019.
It was their first Miami Open title.
Most Inspiring Performance of the Week
Coco Gauff
Despite being a top 5 seed, Gauff was not a sure thing heading into this tournament. He was coming out of retirement — only his second retirement — at Indian Wells after injuring his left arm and undergoing his first MRI. Before the tournament, he said he considered skipping Miami, and if the injury had happened elsewhere on the calendar, he probably would have taken time to rest and recover.
But Miami is actually his hometown — he’s from nearby Delray Beach — and this is a bucket list tournament for him. So he pushed through the discomfort, got stronger as the week progressed and had his best result at Hard Rock Stadium.
Gauff, up to No. 3 in the world this week, she took out three setters in her first four matches – the first two of which she did from the bench to win – before dominating Karolina Muchova in the final. And in the championship match, he pushed Sabalenka to the third round, and became the second player in the tournament that year to take the World No. 1 match.
Despite his final loss, it was a very encouraging week for Gauff as he continues to shape his clay-court swing.
Game of the Week
Elena Rybakina d. Jessica Pegula, Miami Open quarterfinals
I can certainly make a case for a Sabalenka-Gauff final, but I’ll go with a quarter-final showdown between the Australian Open champion and the consistent American. Rybakina started slowly, dropping the first set 6-2 and committing 12 unforced errors. Pegula had just two unforced errors and was surprisingly better than Rybakina, conceding just six points.
It was a different story in the next two sets, however, as Rybakina began to serve confidently — she finished with 15 aces — and cut back on errors. Pegula actually won two more points overall than Rybakina, showing how evenly matched they were, but the World No. 2 won 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Best Game of the Week
Jelena Ostapenko is the leading winner
This was a really tough call this week, so we’re going to the fan polls for the final say.
You guys went with Jelena Ostapenko who runs the first winner down the line — very good choice.
See all the nominees for the game of the week here.
Biggest Job of the Week
Coco Gauff d. Karolina Muchova, Miami Open semifinals
After trailing in three straight sets to start the Miami Open, it looked like Gauff would need to go the distance against Muchova, one of the hottest players through the first three matches of the season. Especially considering that in the previous two games, Muchova had only lost two games against Alexandra Eala and upset Victoria Mboko.
But instead, Gauff put in the old work, getting to everything and playing brilliant defense to stretch the score. Gauff won 77 percent of her first points, broke Muchova six times and took 12 of 13 in the final game for an emphatic 6-1, 6-1 victory.
If proof was needed that Gauff is rolling around in Top 3 form, this was it.
Biggest of the Week
Hailey Baptiste and Talia Gibson
After reaching her first career WTA 1000 in the quarterfinals in Miami, Hailey Baptiste moved up 12 places in the PIF WTA Rankings to No. 33.
And Gibson followed up his Indian Wells quarter-final run with another impressive display, also qualifying to reach the fourth round in Miami. He also rose 12 places, to No. 56.
Both are senior positions.
Best Social Moment of the Week
There is nothing like this before…
After her fourth round win over Zheng Qinwen, a tired and hungry Sabalenka was heading to the locker room.
He was delighted when a WTA employee stopped him and offered him a Golden Glizzy, a delicious hot dog with Australian Wagyu beef, topped with Golden Goat Caviar and gold flakes.
World No. 1 had been dreaming of this moment, and it was everything he had hoped for. Check out her reaction to the delicious meal below.
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