Sabalenka beats home favourite Pegula to capture Miami Open title

World number one Aryna Sabalenka powered her way to the Miami Open title on Saturday, beating American Jessica Pegula 7-5 6-2 in the WTA 1000 event at Hard Rock Stadium.

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The title was the Belarusian’s first at Miami and her second of the season following her January triumph at the Australian Open.

Having lost the final at Indian Wells to Russian 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva earlier this month, Sabalenka was determined not to fail at the last hurdle again.

“I’m super happy to have this trophy, I was able to play my best tennis in the final,” said Sabalenka, who paid tribute to Pegula’s performance after repeating her win over from last year’s US Open final.

Both players struggled to hold their serve in the first set, which saw seven breaks of serve, with Pegula causing Sabalenka some trouble when she brought her up to the net.

But as the momentum shifted when Pegula was serving to stay in the set at 5-5, Sabalenka turned up produced a delicate forehand drop and then a superb down the line winner to take the set.