Calm, Cool Sabalenka Collects Title

World No. 1 tempers her temper to claim Miami Open, looks forward to French Open

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MIAMI GARDENS - World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, fresh from her Miami Open triumph on March 29, credited her consistent form this season on mastering the temper which once plagued her performances.

She added Miami to the title she won in Brisbane by beating American Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 at the Hard Rock Stadium.

The Belarusian has also featured in the finals at the Australian Open and Indian Wells, but showed her increasing maturity by handling a roller-coaster first set where she was broken three times by Pegula.

In the past, Sabalenka would react to a break of serve or moments of frustration with anger and sometimes loud displays of her annoyance with herself.

But there was no sign of such loss of cool against Pegula, and she said that was a result of the realisation that there was more to her game than her big serve.

"I struggled a lot in the past with a lot of different things, I went through really tough challenges, and I was struggling with my serve so much," said the 26-year-old.