Played my best tennis in final: Miami champ Sabalenka

Aryna Sabalenka with the Miami Open trophy on Saturday. Pic/AFP

Aryna Sabalenka powered her way to the Miami Open title on Saturday, beating American Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 in the WTA 1000 event at Hard Rock Stadium.

The title was the Belarusian's first at Miami and her second of the season following her January triumph in Brisbane.

Having lost the final at Indian Wells to Mirra Andreeva earlier this month, the World No.1 was determined not to fall at the last hurdle again.

Also Read: MotoGP: Ducati's Marquez wins US GP sprint race

Jessica Pegula

"I'm super happy to have this trophy, I was able to play my best tennis in the final," said Sabalenka.

Both players struggled to hold serve in the first set with Pegula causing Sabalenka some trouble when she brought her up to the net. But the momentum shifted when Pegula was serving to stay in the set at 6-5 down and Sabalenka turned it on, producing a forehand drop and then a superb down the line winner to take the set.

Once she recovered from being broken on her first service game of the second set, Sabalenka was unstoppable, wrapping up the match in one hour and 27 minutes.

"I think I was able to completely forget about [it being] the final. I was just so focused on the game," said Sabalenka.

It was the third time that Pegula was beaten by Sabalenka in a final. "I consider myself one of the world's best hard-court players, but she's probably the best," Pegula conceded.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever