Aryna Sabalenka Powers into Miami Open Final with Dominant Win

Aryna Sabalenka has reached the Miami Open final with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 win over Jasmine Paolini, and is now one step away from claiming the title.

Aryna Sabalenka, the world's top-ranked player, delivered a dominant performance to reach the Miami Open final, defeating Italy's Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-2. The match lasted just 71 minutes, with Sabalenka's powerful play proving too much for her opponent. She will now await the winner of the other semi-final between Jessica Pegula and Alexandra Eala to determine her opponent in the final.

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

 

Sabalenka's victory marks a significant milestone in her career, as she reaches the Miami Open final for the first time. Her impressive display comes on the heels of her runner-up finish at Indian Wells earlier this month, where she lost to Mirra Andreeva in the final. “I'm super happy with the level I played today. Of course super happy to be in my first Miami Open final,” Sabalenka exclaimed, thrilled with her performance.

Sabalenka's dominance over Paolini was evident throughout the match, as she never trailed and only found herself tied at 1-1 in each set. Her serve proved particularly potent, as she fired six aces and broke Paolini's serve four times to seal the win. With this impressive display, Sabalenka has set herself up for a strong chance at claiming the Miami Open title.

Aryna Sabalenka reflected on her dominant semi-final performance, describing it as one of her best matches of the season. “I definitely would say that this was one of the best matches in the season so far,” she said. Sabalenka attributed her success to her intense focus on her own game, rather than worrying about her opponent. “I don't know. I was just so focused on myself, on the things I had to do today. It felt like everything was just, like, going smoothly my way,” she explained.

Sabalenka d. Paolini 6-2 6-2

Aryna reaches her 2nd consecutive WTA 1000 final

She’s won 10 of her last 11 matches.

With how she’s playing, it’s hard to imagine anyone stopping her

✅1st Miami Final
✅35th final
✅12th WTA 1000 final

Massive favorite to take the title.

🐅 pic.twitter.com/feMa17dnGN

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) March 27, 2025

Sabalenka is eager to put past disappointments behind her, particularly her losses in the Indian Wells and Australian Open finals. She believes that she can learn from those experiences and apply those lessons to future finals. “The lessons (of those defeats) was I believe focus on myself, not on what's going on the other side,” she said. Sabalenka acknowledged that in her previous finals, she had focused too much on her opponents rather than her own game. “I think in those finals I was more focusing on my opponents than on myself. I think I just have to bring the same attitude, the same mindset that I had today, I think I have to bring it in the finals,” she emphasized.

Sabalenka expressed her confidence in her ability to perform better in future finals, starting with the Miami Open. “I really feel this time I'm going to do better than I did in the last two finals,” she said. At just 26 years old, Sabalenka has already achieved a notable milestone, becoming only the sixth woman to reach the finals of both stops on the American 'Sunshine Swing' in the same season.