Fourth-seeded Coco Gauff sailed to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over No. 13 Karolina Muchova on Thursday to book a spot in the Miami Open championship match in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Gauff saved 7 of 8 break points in the 89-minute match while improving to 6-0 all-time against the Czech star to reach her sixth career 1000-level title match. She prevailed in three of the previous five such finals.
Gauff will face top-seeded and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the final on Saturday. The Belarusian defeated No. 3 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-3 in the second semifinal.
“It will be a good matchup to see where I am,” Gauff said. “I am going out there with the belief that I can win.”
Each of Gauff’s first four Miami matches went three sets before she cruised past Muchova. She had 17 winners against 12 unforced errors.
“Today was a bit more straightforward,” said Gauff, “but this week has been a lot of long matches. Though the battles I was having were fun, it’s nice to get through in two sets today.”
Gauff considered skipping her home-state event after a disappointing performance at Indian Wells earlier this month. She retired from a third-round loss to Alexandra Eala of the Philippines due to a left arm injury.
“After Indian Wells, there were thoughts of maybe not playing this tournament,” Gauff said. “Honestly, I thought I wasn’t going to. Then I woke up one day and said I need to try to play if I’m healthy.
“If there was a tournament that would get my joy and groove back, I felt like it would’ve been this one being around my family and the home crowd.”
Muchova struggled throughout the match and 26 of her 37 unforced errors came off her forehand.
After Muchova won the opening game, Gauff won the next 10 to seize control.
Gauff will be attempting to become the second American in three years to win the Miami title. Danielle Collins won the event in 2024.
Sabalenka is one victory away from completing the “Sunshine Double” — winning the BNP Paribas Open and the Miami Open consecutively. The only women’s singles players to have accomplished the feat are Steffi Graf (1994, 1996), Kim Clijsters (2005), Victoria Azarenka (2016) and Iga Swiatek (2022).
Sabalenka finished with a 9-2 edge in aces against Rybakina and won 82.8% of her first-serve points while Rybakina was at just 57.5%.
“I think I did everything right,” Sabalenka said. “(Rybakina) is an incredible player, always pushes me to the limit. With her, you have to bring your best tennis, and that’s why I was able to pull out such great tennis today.”
Gauff and Sabalenka have split 12 career matchups. In their most recent meeting, last fall at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Sabalenka won in straight sets after Gauff defeated Sabalenka in three sets in the 2025 French Open final.
–Field Level Media
