The 6 US women to win the Miami Open title: Can Jess Pegula make it seven?
Jessica Pegula is flying the US flag in the Miami Open women’s singles draw, with the world No 4 the last American standing heading into the quarter-final stage.
As she bids to ensure that an American reigns supreme for the second straight year, we look back at the six US stars to lift the title at the WTA 1000 event.
Martina Navratilova – 1985
The Miami Open is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2025 – and it was tennis icon Navratilova who became the tournament’s first women’s singles champion back in 1985.
The Czech-born American was competing at the peak of her powers in the mid-1980s and dropped just one set on her way to the final, against 15th seed Catarina Lindqvist in round four.
Navratilova was up against chief rival Chris Evert in the final and comfortably dispatched the second seed 6-2, 6-4 to become the event’s first champion.
She made just one more appearance at the Miami Open across her career, losing to Steffi Graf in the last four in 1987.
Chris Evert – 1986
A year after tasting defeat to Navratilova in the final, Florida native Evert bounced back to triumph at her home tournament in 1986.
The 18-time Grand Slam champion barely put a foot wrong on her way to the final, defeating the likes of 16th seed Kathy Jordan and ninth seed Kathy Rinaldi in straight sets.
That set up a final against rising star and second seed Graf, which top seed Evert won 6-4, 6-2 to lift the title.
Evert also reached the final in 1987 and 1988, beaten by Graf, and also lost in the 1989 final to Gabriela Sabatini – her final Miami match before retiring.
Venus Williams – 1998-99, 2001
Former world No 1 Venus ended a 12-year wait for a US women’s champion in Miami in 1998 – and would ultimately lift the title on three separate occasions.
The American was still only 17 years old when she lifted the title for the first time that year, rallying from a set down to defeat Anna Kournikova 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the final.
Twelve months later, Venus successfully defended her title with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 win over younger sister Serena and, after missing the tournament in 2000, defeated Jennifer Capriati 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) to triumph in 2001.
She would also reach the final in 2010, losing to Kim Clijsters.
Serena Williams – 2002-04, 2007-08, 2013-15
No player – male or female – can match Serena’s haul of eight titles at the tournament, with her victories spread across 13 years.
After losing the 1999 final, she defeated Jennifer Capriati in both the 2002 and 2003 finals, winning 7-5, 7-6(4) and 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 respectively, before thrashing Elena Dementieva 6-1, 6-1 in the 2004 final.
Serena saved two championship points as she recaptured the title with a 0-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Justine Henin in 2007, before defending her title in 2008 with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 victory against Jelena Jankovic.
She then lost the 2009 final to Victoria Azarenka, but then sealed three straight titles in the mid-2010s, starting with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory over Maria Sharapova in 2013.
Serena then beat Li Na 7-5, 6-1 in the 2014 final, before thrashing Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-0 in 2015.
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Sloane Stephens – 2018
Months after winning the 2017 US Open title, former world No 3 Stephens captured the first – and currently only – WTA 1000 title of her career at the 2018 Miami Open.
The 13th seed battled her way through the early stages of the draw, before a significant 6-3, 6-4 win over third seed Garbine Muguruza in the fourth round.
Stephens then beat two more Grand Slam winners – Angelique Kerber and Victoria Azarenka – to reach the final, where she beat sixth seed and reigning French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 7-6(5), 6-1.
It is her biggest title outside of the US Open, and she has never made it past the third round of the tournament since.
Danielle Collins – 2024
Collins made history in 2024 by becoming the lowest-ranked woman, and just the second unseeded player, to lift the women’s singles title.
The American beat 30th seed Anastasia Potapova and 19th seed Sorana Cirstea on her way to the quarter-final, where she breezed past 23rd seed Caroline Garcia.
A 6-3, 6-2 semi-final win over 14th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova set up a blockbuster final against fourth seed Elena Rybakina, though Collins produced a scintillating display to triumph 7-5, 6-3.
Collins was the world No 53 before the tournament began, and followed Clijsters (2005) in lifting the title unseeded.
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