Sabalenka turns the screw on Baptiste to set up Rybakina rematch in Miami
Aryna Sabalenka is two wins from the Sunshine Double. The world No. 1 brushed aside an upset-minded Hailey Baptiste 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 20 minutes and will now face Rybakina, again, in what promises to be the match of the women’s semi-finals.
Aryna Sabalenka, Miami 2026 | © Zuma / PsNewz
Belarusian top seed Aryna Sabalenka defeated American Hailey Baptiste 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Miami Open on Wednesday night to reach her second consecutive Miami semi-final, where she will face Kazakh seed No. 3 Elena Rybakina in a rematch of both the Australian Open and Indian Wells finals.
The scoreline suggested comfort. The match was anything but. Baptiste, ranked No. 45 and playing her first WTA 1000 quarter-final, pushed the world No. 1 throughout, failing to convert three break points in Sabalenka’s first two service games before an ill-timed double fault on set point handed Sabalenka the first set.
The second followed the same type of pattern. Sabalenka broke at 3-2, Baptiste broke back to level at 4-4, then served for her life at 4-5 and opened with three consecutive double faults. Sabalenka converted the match point with a crosscourt forehand winner.
Sabalenka “happy to hold pressure”
“I’m super happy with the level,” Sabalenka said after the match. “Super happy that I was able to hold the pressure from her and get the win.” She acknowledged the difficulty of the fortnight. “Every opponent has really been tricky and tough for me. I’m focusing one step at a time, just trying my best to be focused on the right things.” Sabalenka’s previous rounds included victories over Chinese seed No. 23 Qinwen Zheng, American Catherine McNally and American Ann Li.
The win extended Sabalenka’s 2026 record to 21-1, her only defeat coming against Rybakina in the Australian Open final in January. She has won ten consecutive matches, ten consecutive matches in Miami specifically, and has yet to drop a set at this tournament. She became the first woman to reach four consecutive Sunshine Double semi-finals since Serena Williams in 2016.
Sabalenka and Rybakina have now played each other 16 times at WTA level, with Sabalenka leading 9-7. Their semi-final on Thursday will be their 17th meeting, moving them past Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff as the most frequent matchup among active players.
the Sunshine Double picture
Their most recent encounter was the Indian Wells final two weeks ago, which Sabalenka won after saving a match point. Before that, Rybakina defeated her in the Australian Open final. “We’ve been playing a lot of matches recently and all of them have been a battle, all of them have been a show,” Sabalenka said. “I’m super excited playing her again.”
The semi-final will be a decisive match in the Sunshine Double picture. Sabalenka won Indian Wells and is now two wins away from completing the double — a feat only seven women have achieved. Rybakina, who reached the semi-finals without dropping a set until her quarter-final against Pegula, is equally dangerous on this surface.
Baptiste reached the quarter-finals after beating Latvian seed No. 25 Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-4, Ukrainian seed No. 9 Elina Svitolina 6-3, 7-5, Russian seed No. 19 Liudmila Samsonova 6-3, 7-5 and German Tatjana Maria 7-5, 6-2 — a run that had made her the most surprising story of the women’s draw.
