Flawless Aryna Sabalenka crowned 2025 Miami Open champion

World No. 1 Sabalenka was beaten by Madison Keys in the Australian Open final in January and was runner-up once again after a shock defeat against teenager Mirra Andreeva at Indian Wells two weeks ago.

Now she finally has got her hands on the silverware - or glassware to be more accurate at the Miami Open - with an explosive performance getting her over the winning line with a 7-5, 6-2 win against Jessica Pegula.

"I'm speechless," Sabalenka told Sky Sports. "The last couple of finals were really tough and tight and close ones for me so going into this one I was so focused on myself.

"I was playing point by point and now it feels super special. I'm super happy with the title. First one in Miami.

"It was back and forth the whole match. I was fighting no matter what and, even after each game she broke, I was fighting back and breaking her back.

"We are working a lot on the variety of my game and against her, it is important to mix the heights of the ball. I'm happy it worked and I'm happy with the title."

When asked what plans she had to celebrate her first win in Miami, Sabalenka had a swift answer as she said: "Definitely tequila!"

Sabalenka got off to a flying start against Pegula as she broke early in the first set, but Pegula found a way to strike back to take a lead in the set.

An unpredictable match swung back in Sabalenka's favour, as a player who has beaten her in six of their eight meetings continued to threaten Pegula's serve and she finally broke through to take the first set.

The breaks of serve continued on both sides of the net in the second set, but Sabalenka's power hitting got her over the winning line.

The victory secured Sabalenka prize money of $1,124,380, with that windfall taking her up to ninth in the all-time list of prize money winners in women's tennis, leaping above Angelique Kerber.

Sabalenka is now just behind her great rival Iga Swiatek in the all-time prize money chart with $33,643,560.

Sabalenka and Swiatek are still a long way from competing with the all-time prize money queen in the women's game, with Serena Williams in a league of her own as she has $94,816,730 in career prize money from her remarkable career.

This latest WTA 100 win also ensured Sabalenka's lead at the top of the WTA Rankings has increased to over 3,000 points.

She will have 10,541 ranking points when the WTA list is updated on Monday, with Swiatek in second place on 7,470 and Coco Gauff in third on 6,063.

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