Aryna Sabalenka wins Miami Open title over Coco Gauff to complete the 2026 Sunshine Double
Sabalenka adds Miami crown after Indian Wells triumph, extending dominance in March’s two premier U.S. hard-court events
Aryna Sabalenka won the 2026 Miami Open women’s singles title in Miami Gardens, defeating Coco Gauff 6–2, 4–6, 6–3 in the final to complete the “Sunshine Double” — the rare sweep of Indian Wells and Miami in the same season.
The Miami victory came less than two weeks after Sabalenka captured the BNP Paribas Open title at Indian Wells, where she beat Elena Rybakina in the final 3–6, 6–3, 7–6(8–6). With those results, Sabalenka became the first woman since 2022 to win both tournaments in the same year, joining a short list of players to achieve the feat in the women’s game.
A three-set final that tested momentum swings
In Saturday’s Miami final, Sabalenka asserted early control by taking the opening set 6–2. Gauff responded in the second set, leveling the match by winning it 6–4. Sabalenka then recovered in the decider, closing the match 6–3 to secure the championship.
The matchup added another chapter to one of the tour’s most prominent rivalries. Sabalenka and Gauff have regularly met in high-stakes settings, and Miami provided a WTA 1000 title match with the Sunshine Double on the line for the top seed.
Context: what the Sunshine Double represents
The Indian Wells–Miami pairing has long been treated as a defining stretch of the season. Both are WTA 1000 events played on outdoor hard courts, staged in close succession, and often demand rapid adjustments in travel, conditions, and week-to-week form.
Winning Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back remains one of the most difficult doubles in women’s tennis because it compresses two elite events into a single sustained peak.
Historically, only a handful of players have managed to win both titles in the same season. Sabalenka’s 2026 sweep ends a short gap since the last completion of the double in 2022.
What Sabalenka’s Miami win changes
It confirms a sustained two-tournament run across the tour’s most competitive early-spring hard-court segment.
It extends her Miami Open success after winning the tournament the previous year, when she defeated Jessica Pegula 7–5, 6–2 in the 2025 final.
It caps a month in which she beat two of the tour’s most established contenders in championship matches: Rybakina at Indian Wells and Gauff at Miami.
With the Miami title secured, the Sunshine Double stands as the defining achievement of Sabalenka’s March 2026 schedule, combining two WTA 1000 trophies across consecutive weeks in the United States.