Sabalenka Reaches Fourth Final This Year After Thrashing Win Over Paolini In Miami
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Aryna Sabalenka was very dominant against Jasmine Paolini in the semi-finals of the 2025 Miami Open, securing her fourth final of the season.
Sabalenka has already played in three finals this year, but she lost two of those. In Miami, it has looked like she was on a quest to reach another one since she hit the first ball.
The Belarusian player destroyed all of her opponents, never losing more than eight games in a match. In fact, she bageled both of her first two opponents, and dominated also against Qinwen Zheng.
In the semi-finals, Sabalenka took on a player whom she had beaten many times before, including at last year's WTA Finals. Paolini is a challenging opponent, but with her small stature, she often finds it difficult to counter the Belarusian's incredible power.
That was the case also in this match. Although the top seed faced a break point already in the opening game of the match, Sabalenka held her serve, which was a very important moment.
It was important because a few games later, up 2-1, the three-time Grand Slam champion worked her way to her first break point of the match. It came after Paolini had three game points to win the game, but she couldn't, and she was punished for it.
Sabalenka knew that one break could be enough to win the set, but she didn't want to rely on that. The WTA World No. 1 player added one more break of serve to win the opening set of the match 6-2.
Sabalenka was playing well, but she was once again the first player to face a break point in the second set. At 1-1, Paolini had one chance to go into the lead, but she couldn't convert when it mattered in this match.
Almost an identical scenario like in the first set followed, as the Italian player then had two game points to hold her own serve but lost it after facing the first break point of the set.
Sabalenka just won all the crucial points in this match. She saved two more break points and broke Paolini's serve once more to win the match 6-2, 6-2, and reach the Miami Open final.
The Belarusian player saved all four break points that she faced in this match, while she was able to convert four out of five chances that she had to break Paolini's serve. Thanks to playing all of those points better, she will now await the winner of the match between Jessica Pegula and Alexandra Eala in the final.
Of course, Sabalenka was very happy about her performance, and even though the scoreline might suggest otherwise, during her on-court interview, she mentioned that it was a challenging match.
"She’s an incredible player. I knew I’d have to work for every point against her. I focused on my serve. I tried to stay as low as possible. She was hitting pretty flat and deep balls so you gotta stay low. I was focusing on my movement and serve. Super happy with the level I played."
