Miami Open presented by Itau: Gauff advances to final
Coco Gauff is in her first Miami final. She swept Muchova aside 6-1, 6-1 in 80 minutes, broke her six times and extended her head-to-head lead over the Czech to 6-0. Coming back from a forearm injury, this is the best possible answer.
Coco Gauff, Miami 2026 | © PsNewz
American seed No. 4 Coco Gauff defeated Czech seed No. 13 Karolina Muchova 6-1, 6-1 in the semi-finals of the Miami Open on Thursday to reach her first final at the tournament, breaking her Czech opponent six times in one hour and 20 minutes.
She became the youngest American woman to reach the Miami final since Serena Williams in 2003. When the new rankings are published, Gauff will rise to world No. 3, overtaking Iga Swiatek. It will be her sixth WTA 1000 final.
Muchova, who came in as the Doha champion and in the form of her career, could not hold a single service game in the first set. She finally broke through to level at 1-1 in the second, but then watched Gauff rattle off six straight games to close out the match.
Gauff conceded just one game in the entire opening set before winning 12 of the final 13 games. Muchova’s forehand, her biggest weapon, failed her repeatedly – it was responsible for 26 of her 37 unforced errors. She won just 20 per cent of second-serve points.
Gauff finished with 17 winners and only 12 unforced errors, winning 77 per cent of her first-serve points and converting six of her 11 break-point opportunities.
“I’m super excited to be in the final of this tournament,” Gauff said after the match. “I didn’t expect to be here. I’ve just been trying to find the joy in the sport. I’ve had fun. This week has been a lot of long matches, but through the battles I was having fun. It’s nice to get through in two sets today.”
The result extended Gauff’s head-to-head record against Muchova to 6-0, winning twice in 2026 – their previous meeting came in the Australian Open round of 16. It was also a result with a context beyond the scoreline: Gauff had retired from Indian Wells with a forearm injury and came into Miami managing that.
In the final she will face the winner of the semi-final between Belarusian top seed Aryna Sabalenka and Kazakh seed No. 3 Elena Rybakina. Gauff has faced Sabalenka 12 times, winning most recently at Roland Garros last year. She has played Rybakina only once — a three-set win at Toronto in 2022.
Coco Gauff (USA, seed No. 4) defeated Karolina Muchova (Czech Republic, seed No. 13) 6-1, 6-1 in the semi-finals of the Miami Open presented by Itau 2026 on Thursday, March 26. Gauff reaches her first Miami final and will rise to world No. 3. She will face either Aryna Sabalenka or Elena Rybakina in Saturday’s final.
