Sabalenka doesn’t need statement wins anymore, but Miami felt like one

MIAMI — Hard courts are Aryna Sabalenka’s happy place, the surface that most maximizes her muscular game.

After Saturday’s 7-5, 6-2 victory over Jessica Pegula in the Miami Open final, it’s clear that she is in full flight. At the moment, no one can consistently compete with her when the court is hard and fast.

Pegula is the Hologic WTA Tour’s No. 4-ranked player — and would have risen to No. 3 with a win. She, too, is best on hard courts. And yet, she’s lost seven of her past eight matches to Sabalenka — all in straight sets.

In the one moment when the match actually seemed open to suggestion, Sabalenka refused to lose. Serving at 5-all, love-15 in the first set, she won the last nine points. Bam! Game, set and, about 40 minutes later, match.

“I feel like she just keeps coming up with raising her level in key moments of the match when she needs to,” Pegula said afterward. “That was the big difference today and the last few times I have played her.”

If you took Sabalenka against the field — 1 player versus the other 127 — over the past two years in hard-court Grand Slams, you would have been right three times out of five. How has she dominated women’s tennis? Let us count the ways. Sabalenka has:

• Amassed 10,541 points in the PIF WTA rankings — 3,000-plus more than No. 2 Iga Swiatek. And don’t forget she has zero points to defend at Wimbledon.
• Won more matches this year than any woman (23) — the most wins in straight sets (20) — and played more finals (four).
• Posted a 12-2 record against Top 10 players going back to last year. And hit more winners (716) this year than anyone.

The scary thing? Sabalenka lost in the finals at the Australian Open and Indian Wells — and is only the third woman ever to reach the finals at Melbourne, Indian Wells in Miami in the same season.

Sabalenka maneuvered through three Top 10 players — No. 4 Pegula, No. 7 Jasmine Paolini and No. 9 Zheng Qinwen — for only the second time in her career. And the result was her first Miami Open title in seven tries. She dropped 30 games in six matches.

Only Victoria Azarenka (10) and Serena Williams (eight) have won more hard-court WTA 1000 titles than Sabalenka’s six, and you get the idea that, at 26, she’s just getting started.

It hasn’t got a lot of attention, but Sabalenka’s power game has undergone some subtle refinements. She’s no longer racking up the aces, but by going for her targets with a little more restraint she’s been a more effective server. The drop shots have increased, too, but this year’s biggest improvement is her slice. Against Pegula, nearly 20 percent of her shots had backspin. Going forward, that is going to make her heavy top-spin groundstrokes even more effective.

“I think her movement’s gotten a lot better, and then she added more slice, dropshots — she’s gotten kind of better at those intangible shots,” Pegula said. “Everyone talks about her aggressive style of play, which is for sure, but I think it’s more of her being able to mix in the other intangibles that makes her aggressive game play even more successful.”

Afterward, Sabalenka, looking forward to a few weeks chilling in Miami and a Sunday celebration with her team, chatted for a few minutes with wtatennis.com:

You seemed determined to win your first Miami title, where you’ve had a home for more than three years — why was it so important to you?

Sabalenka: It was very important because last couple of finals I didn’t play my best and didn’t want it to get to my head. I’m super happy that I was able to handle all the emotions and was able to play my best. On the other side, playing at home is great. Having this trophy in the house means a lot and will always bring me great memories.

The statistics say you were hitting slices nearly 20 percent of the time … how does this tactic make you harder to beat?

Sabalenka: I love to see the variety. I think it’s really important to my game to have that in my pocket. Because overhitting is not enough to be the best player in the world. So we worked really hard to see those numbers. It’s super special and important for us. That’s something we’re going to keep working on — the variety in my game.

Fun Fact: Since your debut on tour in 2017, you have won the most hard-court titles won (17) — five more than the second-best, Iga Swiatek. Thoughts?

Sabalenka: Oh, that’s crazy. But if you’re going to look into clay-court statistics, I’m definitely going to be far behind Iga. That’s impressive to see. It actually means a lot because I’m a hard worker and to see these results, it’s just amazing.

You are more than 3,000 points ahead of No. 2 Swiatek in the rankings … and have zero points to defend at Wimbledon because you didn’t play it last year. That has to feel good?

Sabalenka: Honestly, I’m not really thinking about it, to be honest. But that’s a good points difference. I’m going to still keep my focus on myself and improving myself and making sure I bring my best game every time. I’ll keep hoping [laughing] to be running away with the points.

How excited are you about the coming clay season?

Sabalenka: I’m starting in Stuttgart and then Madrid, Rome and Paris. I love playing on clay. Everyone kind of questions my game [on clay]but I know I can do well. I think we’re going to focus on fitness a lot. To make sure I know that I can play longest rallies for the whole match. I’m excited and I really hope to perform well.

You made two clay finals last year (Madrid and Rome) … are you going to win a title this year on clay?

Sabalenka: Hah! Nice question. I wish I could just say, `Yeah, yeah, I’m going to win. And that’s all going to happen.’ I don’t know, but I can definitely make sure I bring my best high spirit there. I’ll definitely fight for every point. And I hope — I hope — to hold those beautiful trophies.