Aryna Sabalenka once again handled the business against Zheng Qinwen as the top seed ousted the No. 9 seed 6-2 7-5 to progress into her first Miami Open semifinal.
After losing her serve three times in the opening set, it didn’t look promising for the Chinese tennis star and her hopes of finally getting a win against the Belarusian. While the 2024 Paris Olympics gold medalist managed to raise her game in the second set and was even three times up by a break, she just couldn’t capitalize on her multiple chances and ended up losing in two sets.
Now, Sabalenka owns a 6-0 head-to-head against Zheng, with only one set dropped in those meetings. For the Chinese, the disappointing part is that she today had certain openings and she definitely could have at least forced a third set.
Sabalenka plays against Jasmine Paolini for a place in the Miami final
In the Miami semifinal, the three-time Grand Slam winner will clash against No. 6 seed Jasmine Paolini, who ousted Coco Gauff’s conqueror Magda Linette 6-3 6-2. When they meet in South Beach, it will be their sixth meeting. Going into the match, the Belarusian leads their head-to-head 3-2.
In the past, they already met once during the Double Sunshine series – Paolini upset Sabalenka in Indian Wells three years.
Miami WTA 1000 semifinal:
[1] Aryna Sabalenka vs. [6] Jasmine Paolini
h2h is interesting pic.twitter.com/s2bReKzybg
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) March 26, 2025
After falling just short of winning Indian Wells 10 days ago and losing to Mirra Andreeva in the final, Sabalenka has been on a mission in Miami so far and Paolini will have all but an easy job of sending the top seed home.
