![\"Aryna](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Aryna-Sabalenka-Miami-Open-6831488.jpg\" "\\"Aryna")
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Aryna Sabalenka successfully defended her Miami Open crown and completed the Sunshine Double. (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n
The Miami Open, the second half of the Sunshine Double, is officially over. And both Aryna Sabalenka<\/a> and Jannik Sinner<\/a> managed to complete the Sunshine Double \u2013 winning Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back<\/a>.<\/p>\n While it was a statement month for the hard-court heroes, other top players struggled in Florida. Iga Swiatek<\/a> lost an opening-round match for the first time since 2021, while Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> was ousted in the third round<\/a>. Daniil Medvedev<\/a>\u2019s strong run of form finally came to an end as he was also sent packing in round three. And four-time Major winner Naomi Osaka<\/a> even questioned her future in tennis<\/a> after losing her first match to a qualifier.<\/p>\n Others broke new ground. Coco Gauff<\/a> reached the final here for the first time in her career, and as a Florida local, it was extra special. Jiri Lehecka also made it into a maiden Masters 1000 final, while Arthur Fils<\/a> got through to his first semi-final at this level.<\/p>\n And there were new breakout stars \u2013 Talia Gibson carried her form from Indian Wells<\/a> straight into Miami, while young Spaniard Martin Landaluce put himself on the map.<\/p>\n Express Sport hands out player ratings to the top three seeds, finalists, and other players who made an impression after an interesting fortnight in the Hard Rock Stadium.<\/p>\n Aryna Sabalenka: 10\/10. Sunshine Double? Completed it. After winning Indian Wells for the first time, the world number one looked just as dominant in Miami, where she was the defending champion. Once again, Sabalenka stormed into the final without dropping a set. Less than two weeks after she saved a championship point to beat Rybakina in Indian Wells, she earned a routine 6-4 6-3 victory when they met again in the Miami semi-finals, and then survived a tough test against Gauff in the final. Sabalenka once seemed to struggle in big finals, but that\u2019s not been the case at all this month. Impressive for her to regroup the way she did after losing the second set of the championship match, especially with the crowd in Gauff\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n Jannik Sinner<\/a>: 10\/10. Sinner also ticked off the Sunshine Double for the first time, and also became the first player to win Indian Wells and Miami without dropping a set. The Italian missed both tournaments last year while serving a suspension and came back with a vengeance. The turnaround and change in conditions from the Californian desert to the Hard Rock Stadium can be a tricky one, but Sinner wasn\u2019t affected in the slightest. He looked unstoppable once again as he swept aside four top-30 seeds, including Alexander Zverev<\/a>, on his way to a second Miami Open crown. He remains a force to be reckoned with on hard courts.<\/p>\n Coco Gauff: 9\/10. By her own standards, Gauff didn\u2019t have a great record in Miami and had never been beyond the fourth round. And considering the Florida local retired mid-match in Indian Wells<\/a> with an arm injury and would have skipped this tournament had it been anywhere else, it was especially impressive that she reached the final. The 22-year-old definitely took the scenic route, coming through some gritty three-setters, and then absolutely blitzed Karolina Muchova. And she was the only woman to take a set off Sabalenka this fortnight. Some of the double-fault issues were still there, but Gauff\u2019s determination and athleticism shone through.<\/p>\n Jiri Lehecka: 9\/10. The Czech star reached his first Masters final without having his serve broken all tournament, and stunned number six seed Taylor Fritz<\/a> en route. Almost two years after his last Masters semi-final appearance ended with a retirement, Lehecka finally enjoyed his redemption. He came up short in the final, but there\u2019s not much anyone can do when Sinner is playing like this, and this fortnight has still been a huge positive for Lehecka, who has now reached a new career-high ranking of number 14.<\/p>\n Carlos Alcaraz lost in the third round of the Miami Open (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n Carlos Alcaraz<\/a>: 3\/10. Alcaraz looked great in his first official meeting against Joao Fonseca, and then looked completely rattled as he lost to Sebastian Korda in the third round. It seemed inevitable that a comeback was on the horizon when he broke to stay alive in the second set, with Korda serving for the match, and reeled off four games to force a decider. But he kept venting to his team, and his body language said it all, as Korda still got it done in three. Another disappointing early exit for Alcaraz in Miami. The one upside is he\u2019ll be well-rested for the clay season.<\/p>\n Iga Swiatek<\/a>: 1\/10. Swiatek suffered her first opening-round defeat since 2021. She had won 74 straight opening-round matches in a row. After racing through the first set, she fell into a pattern that has become worryingly recurrent in recent months \u2013 second-guessing herself, losing confidence, and ultimately whacking too many errors. This was maybe the most worrying loss she\u2019s had in that period. Usually a great frontrunner, Swiatek couldn\u2019t make the most of the quick first set and lost 1-6 7-5 6-3. She\u2019s responded by parting ways with her coach, Wim Fissette<\/a>. Time will tell whether that was the right call, but clearly something needs to change. Gets a point for the set she won.<\/p>\n Alexander Zverev: 7\/10. The number three seed in Novak Djokovic<\/a>\u2019s absence, only Sinner could stop Zverev. The German came through some tight sets and matches to reach the quarter-finals, where he absolutely outclassed Francisco Cerundolo, someone who had troubled him in the past. Zverev looked great against Sinner in the semis too \u2013 a better performance rating, more winners, fewer unforced errors. Yet it felt inevitable that the Italian would win in straights, and he did.<\/p>\n Elena Rybakina: 8\/10. Another deep run for Rybakina at a big event. At this point, you expect it. What was most impressive about her time in Miami was her quarter-final comeback win over Jessica Pegula. She looked all over the place in the first set, and by the end, Pegula was the one feeling frustrated<\/a> as Rybakina got it done in three sets and survived some rollercoaster games in the decider. Rybakina was a bit shafted by the seedings here (she was world number two after Indian Wells but was the number three seed in Miami and had to face world number one Sabalenka in the semis), so her semi-final loss wasn\u2019t a big surprise given that it came at the hands of Sabalenka. But when you look at their Indian Wells final a couple of weeks back, compared to their Miami match, Rybakina had no real answers for Sabalenka\u2019s relentlessness, and it was a routine win for the top seed.<\/p>\n Naomi Osaka: 1\/10. Osaka started to rediscover her best tennis during the North American hard-court swing last year, so this Sunshine Double should have been a real opportunity for her to gain extra ranking points. Indian Wells may have gone pretty well, but a one-and-done in Miami to Gibson was a huge disappointment. The former world number one didn\u2019t break the qualifier\u2019s serve once and made far too many mistakes as she lost 7-5 6-4. She\u2019s now said she won\u2019t \u201cstay on tour if [she\u2019s] losing in the first round\u201d and would rather focus on being a mum. A rough loss that has clearly given her plenty to think about, including retirement.<\/p>\n Talia Gibson: 9\/10. The breakout star in Indian Wells had to again go through qualifying to get into the main draw of the Miami Open. You\u2019d have forgiven her if all the tennis from California caught up and she lost in qualies here, especially with such a quick turnaround. But the Australian picked up where she left off and once again, caused plenty of upsets, taking out Naomi Osaka and Iva Jovic before losing to Rybakina in the last 16. Another career-high is here, and she deserves it.<\/p>\n Hailey Baptiste: 8\/10. Baptiste has been breaking new ground this year, and continued that in Miami, as she reached her first WTA 1000 quarter-final. It was no easy feat for the unseeded American, who beat three top-30 players en route, including number nine seed Elina Svitolina, who had a 16-3 record coming into the match. New career high.<\/p>\n Naomi Osaka admitted she would consider retirement if she kept losing early (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n Daniil Medvedev: 3\/10. He\u2019s been one of the most in-form players of the last couple of months and came to Miami fresh off the back of finishing runner-up in Indian Wells. But Medvedev dropped a set to Rei Sakamoto and then lost his second match to number 19 seed Francisco Cerundolo 6-0 4-6 7-5. It was a hard-fought battle in the end, but Medvedev absolutely disappeared in that first set, and couldn\u2019t play the big points well enough in set three. A shame he couldn\u2019t carry his momentum into Miami, but all the tennis probably caught up.<\/p>\n Arthur Fils: 8\/10. What a comeback Fils is having. Absolutely demolished Stefanos Tsitsipas<\/a> in the third round and then showed lots of grit and heart to reach his first Masters semi-final, saving four match points to beat Tommy Paul in a match of three tiebreaks. He just seemed to run out of gas against Lehecka. There was likely a lot of pressure on the 21-year-old this early in his comeback, knowing that this time a year ago, he made three straight Masters quarter-finals and was defending a lot of points. But he\u2019s left Miami, having actually earned more.<\/p>\n![\"Carlos](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Carlos-Alcaraz-2026-Miami-Open-6831495.jpg\" "\\"Carlos")
<\/p>\n![\"Naomi](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Naomi-Osaka-Miami-Open-6831494.jpg\" "\\"Naomi")
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