Sabalenka's First Semifinal in Miami

MIAMI, TUESDAY — Aryna Sabalenka has remained at the top of the world rankings since October 2024. She holds three Grand Slam titles and has been a finalist in nearly all WTA 1000 tournaments. However, this will be the first time Sabalenka experiences the semifinals of the WTA 1000 Miami.

The semifinal ticket in her seventh appearance in Miami, Florida, United States, was secured after defeating Zheng Qin Wen. In the quarterfinals at Hard Rock Stadium on Tuesday evening (25/3/2025) local time, Sabalenka won with a score of 6-2, 7-5. In the semifinals, Sabalenka will face Jasmine Paolini, who defeated Magda Linette 6-3, 6-2.

Like Sabalenka, Paolini also advanced to the semifinals in Miami for the first time. Paolini's best result in her previous four appearances was reaching the third round in 2024. Meanwhile, Sabalenka reached the quarterfinals in 2021 and 2023 but lost to Ashleigh Barty and Sorana Cirstea.

The WTA Miami is one of the few venues Sabalenka has struggled to conquer, despite her powerful, flat groundstrokes as a weapon on hard courts. In fact, the Belarusian has three Grand Slam titles on the same surface, namely from the 2023 and 2024 Australian Opens, and the 2024 US Open.

Apart from Miami, her journey was also not smooth in the WTA 1000 tournaments in Beijing and Dubai. In fact, Sabalenka has a record as a finalist in six other WTA 1000 level tournaments, namely in Doha, Indian Wells, Madrid, Rome, Montreal, Cincinnati, and Wuhan.

"I am happy to finally reach the semifinals, playing in front of an always supportive audience. I am also proud to have won the match earlier because I managed to overcome the pressure in the second set. Matches against Zheng are never easy," commented Sabalenka.

After swiftly securing the first set, Sabalenka faced stiff resistance from Zheng in the second set. Both players held their respective serves from the first game to the tenth, with the score tied at 5-5.

Game 11, when Zheng held serve, ultimately became the key to Sabalenka's victory. She broke Zheng's serve and held her own serve in the following game to secure the win. Sabalenka maintained her winning record against Zheng, now standing at 6-0, since their first meeting in the 2024 Australian Open final.

Meanwhile, the victory over Linette not only brought Paolini to her first semifinal in Miami. She also became the first Italian player to win a quarterfinal at the WTA 1000 Miami. Since the tournament was held in 1985, there have been six quarterfinals involving Italian players, such as Sara Errani, Roberta Vinci, and Martina Trevisan, but the Italians lost in those matches.

The sixth meeting with Sabalenka, which will take place on Thursday, will be Paolini's first semifinal in 2025. Her best result in four previous tournaments was a fourth-round exit at the WTA 1000 Indian Wells. Paolini lost in the third round at the other two WTA 1000 tournaments, in Doha and Dubai.

"I played not too bad this season, but I didn't get good results. It was tough, but I reminded myself, maybe I should be more confident," said the player who surprised by reaching the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon in 2024.

The other two semifinals in the women's singles will be up for grabs on Wednesday. Filipina teenager Alexandra Eala will try to extend her surprise when she takes on five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek in the afternoon session. Eala advanced to the quarterfinals after eliminating two Grand Slam champions, Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys, in the second and third rounds, and a walkover win over Paula Badosa in the fourth round.

The other quarterfinal, on Wednesday night, pits Jessica Pegula against Emma Raducanu. The third meeting with Pegula is Raducanu's first quarterfinal at the WTA 1000 level, despite being the 2021 US Open champion.

In the fourth round of the men's singles in Miami at the ATP Masters 1000 level, Novak Djokovic won in a match watched by former colleagues Serena Williams and Juan Martin Del Potro. Djokovic defeated Lorenzo Musetti 6-2, 6-2.

The quarter-finals in Miami (against Sebastian Korda) were Djokovic's first since winning the title in 2016. After that, Djokovic only appeared in 2018 and 2019, reaching the second round and fourth round respectively.

After not being held in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Djokovic was absent from the Miami Masters in 2021-2024 and only returned in 2025. His expectations were not so high after losing three times in a row, namely in the semifinals of the Australian Open, the first round of the ATP 500 Doha, and the second round of the Indian Wells Masters.

In Miami, he tried to rekindle his competitive spirit, including when Del Potro and Serena watched on in the stadium. Del Potro, in fact, sat in the stands with Djokovic's team.

“I was blown away. It was great to see DelPo in the box. He is a rival and an old friend. I am grateful he came,” Djokovic said.

Djokovic was also surprised by Serena's arrival. However, when he realized the presence of the 23-time Grand Slam champion, Djokovic made contact.

“When I hit the down the line passing shot, I looked at Serena and asked her, ‘Yes, it’s good.’ She said, ‘Yes, it’s good.’ If Serena says it’s good, it’s good,” said Djokovic, who at 37 is the oldest player in the world’s top stars.

Another senior tennis player who also advanced to the quarter finals is Grigor Dimitrov. The athlete who is also Serena's friend defeated Brandon Nakashima in the fourth round and will face Francisco Cerundolo in the next challenge. If Dimitrov and Djokovic can get through the quarter final challenge, they will meet in the semifinals. (AFP)