How much money and how many ranking points did Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff win at the Miami Open?
Aryna Sabalenka held her nerve in a tense battle with Coco Gauff to win the Miami Open title, as she completed the ‘Sunshine Double’ to cement her status as the world’s best female player.
Sabalenka has lost plenty of tight finals over the last couple of years and she started this year with another disappointment as she came up short in the Australian Open final in Melbourne against Elena Rybakina.
Now she has bounced back from that big disappointment by winning back-to-back WTA 1000 titles, with this win over Gauff another big test of her mental strength in a match that was backed with tension from start to finish.
After beating Rybakina in three sets to win the Indian Wells final earlier this month, it was another three set win against Gauff that sealed the deal as she recorded a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory in front of a raucous crowd in Miami.
Sabelanka held her hands out wide as she broke Gauff’s serve for a final time to seal the match, with the rewards coming her way laced with riches both in tennis and financial terms.
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The win saw Sabalenka bank another $1,151,380 to add to the $47,875,138 she had already collected in on court prize money.
This will also add 1,000 WTA Ranking points to her record, as she extended her lead at the top of the rankings.
She also joined an exclusive list of female players who have completed the ‘Sunshine Double’ of the Indian Wells and Miami Open titles:
* Steffi Graf (1994, 1996)
* Kim Clijsters (2005)
* Victoria Azarenka (2016)
* Iga Swiatek (2022)
“I didn’t have a moment to stop and look back at what happened in the last month,” said Sabalenka, who got engaged at the start of this run of WTA Tour events in America.
“I know that she’s a fighter and she will fight for every opportunity. I made some errors at the end of the second set and gave it to her, but I tried to stay focused and to try a little harder. That was the approach.
“I knew what to expect coming into this match and even though the fans were cheering for her, I felt the respect.”
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Gauff will be encouraged by her performances at the Miami Open, as she battled ongoing serving problems and made it through to the final with some battling displays.
She will get $612,340 and will see her WTA Ranking rise back up to No 3 on Monday, with the 22-year-old American heading into the clay court season with boosted confidence.
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