While rain did create a scheduling havoc at the Miami Open on Tuesday, March 25, it didn’t prevent Aryna Sabalenka and Jasmine Paolini from romping to easy wins in their respective quarterfinals.
World number one Sabalenka made it to her maiden semifinal spot in Miami Open as she eased to her sixth win over Qinwen Zheng. She won 6-2, 7-5 in an hour and 36 minutes.
After a breezy start to the encounter, Sabalenka was broken three times in the second set and fell 2-4 behind. She was three break-points down to be broken the fourth time before coming back to level things out at 5-5.
Sabalenka then broke again in the 11th game before serving it out to win the encounter.
Also making it through was the sixth seeded Paolini who crushed Magda Linette 6-3, 6-2 following a lengthy delay to the start of her match.
Interestingly, in making it to the semifinals, Paolini became the first Italian women to do so, following the futile attempts of Martina Trevisan, Sara Errani and Roberto Vinci, who have all been knocked out in the quarterfinals before this.
While Paolini was broken once in the match, she saved seven other break-points and overcame Linette’s serve four times.
Sabalenka and Paolini will now meet for the sixth time and the fifth occasion in a WTA tournament. The world number one holds a 3-2 advantage having won their last two matches – at the 2023 China Open and 2024 WTA Finals.
WTA Miami Open Quarterfinals Results:
- Sabalenka d Zheng 6-2, 7-5
- Paolini d Linette 6-3, 6-2
