Sabalenka completes ‘Sunshine Double’ with Miami Open win

Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka beat hometown favourite Coco Gauff 6-2 4-6 6-3 in the Miami Open final last Saturday to join an exclusive club by completing the coveted ‘Sunshine Double’.

World number one Sabalenka, who reached the final without dropping a set, won 73 per cent of her first-serve points and faced just two break points en route to victory in a rematch of the 2025 French Open final won by Gauff.

Sabalenka is only the fifth woman to win the Indian Wells and Miami titles back-to-back, a feat known as the ‘Sunshine Double’ given the tournaments’ respective locations in California and Florida.

The Belarusian joins Iga Swiatek (2022), Victoria Azarenka (2016), Kim Clijsters (2005) and Steffi Graf (1994, 1996) as the only women to complete the ‘Sunshine Double’.

The Belarusian also improved to 23-1 on the year, her only loss coming in the Australian Open final at the hands of Elena Rybakina, whom she went on to beat in the Indian Wells final and Miami semi-finals.