Preview Miami Open WTA 2026 Final | Aryna Sabalenka eyes up Sunshine double against home favourite Coco Gauff

The WTA Sunshine swing just has one more match left for 2026. A whole host of tennis players tested their luck at the Miami Open hoping to make their way into the latter stages of the tournament. While some have, only Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff have been able to go the distance, with one set to be crowned as Miami Open champion. The final will take place on March 28 and conclude what has been a fantastic Sunshine swing.

The world number one has started the year in ominous fashion. Winning the Brisbane International was a message of intent before prior big final losses again caught up to her against Elena Rybakina at the Australian Open. She would patiently wait before extracting her revenge at Indian Wells to win her first title in California and set herself up for a coveted Sunshine double.

Steffi Graf, Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka and Iga Swiatek are the only women to have won both Indian Wells and Miami Open in the same season. Sabalenka could add herself to this list with a third title in 2026.

She came close last year, losing in the final of Indian Wells to Mirra Andreeva before defeating Jessica Pegula in the final of this current competition. She would come into it defending 1000 points, a hefty amount. Fortunately, she would not be close to being overtaken due to her hefty lead in front. She could go into the clay swing having earned more points from this Sunshine swing than last year's, a remarkable achievement but only if she can clinch the title.

Sabalenka's only WTA 1000 title in Florida came last year. Aside from that, just a couple of quarterfinal appearances were her best results, showing how far she has come. The four-time Grand Slam champion skipped the opening two WTA 1000 tournaments in the Middle East to prioritise these ones, and it has paid off with her playing a host of matches still at the top of her game.

She began her campaign by defeating Ann Li 7-6(5), 6-4 in a tricky opening test. It was much more comfortable against Caty McNally (6-4, 6-2) and former Olympic gold medallist Qinwen Zheng (6-3, 6-4). She showed her class to take down home favourite Haily Baptiste (6-4, 6-4) in the quarterfinal stage before a showdown against her nemesis Rybakina was again on the cards. After losing in the final of the WTA Finals and the Australian Open, the Indian Wells triumph over her was bittersweet. She repeated the feat again, this time more comfortably as she won 6-4, 6-3 to reach her first Miami Open final. She is yet to drop a set, and just one set has been relinquished in these prior two tournaments, showing her incredible form.

Not normally you would be surprised to see Gauff reach a WTA 1000 final. In recent years she has cemented herself as one of the best in the world, winning three WTA 1000 titles while losing in a brace of finals last year.

Her form going into this tournament was patchy. She had only reached one semi-final - at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, and overall was not finding her best game. Her Australian Open campaign ended with a whimper against Elina Svitolina in a dreadful display before instantly being dumped out of the Qatar Open to Elisabetta Cocciaretto. Svitolina would again get in her way in Duabi but a much closer match was in store.

The American would have hoped to use that momentum going into the Sunshine swing but her Indian Wells tournament was abruptly halted by a concerning left arm injury. There were huge concerns on whether she would compete in her home event, but those doubts were soon extinguished as she was seen practicing at the Hard Rock Stadium.

While it is a special event for the 21-year-old, before this year she had never achieved anything special. It was her second worst WTA 1000 tournament win percentage after the Qatar Open and she had failed to even reach the quarterfinal stage in her six visits to Miami. This was an abysmal record she was hoping to turn around, and she has done so going into a critical time of the calendar for her.

A title in Florida would definitely ease the looming pressure of what is a hectic clay swing. Those forementioned brace of WTA 1000 finals that culminated last year were at the Madrid Open and Rome Open, losing in both those finals to Sabalenka and Jasmine Paolini. She then continued her superb form into Roland Garros, picking up a marvellous title for her second Grand Slam. All those points were celebrated back then as she climbed up to world number two, but an imminent plummet could occur if not able to recuperate the majority of them. She will be desperate to make a smooth transition to clay, but first on her mind is completing the final hardcourt tournament until August with a win.

While Sabalenka reached the final with ease, it has been a different pathway for Gauff. Her serve still gives her trouble but when tamed the real Gauff can be seen on court. She began by taking down Cocciaretto (3-6, 6-4, 6-3) ahead of completing another comeback against Alycia Parks (3-6, 6-0, 6-1), For the first time she took the lead in a tennis match but still make hardword out of it against Sorana Cirstea (6-4, 3-6, 6-2) ahead of picking up a fine win over the dangerous Belinda Bencic (6-3, 1-6, 6-3). Her semi-final performance was the most impressive by a landslide. She thrashed the Qatar Open champion Karolina Muchova 6-1, 6-1 in a statement performance to show her real worth and book her spot in a maiden Miami Open final.

The duo have played 12 matches against each other, both sharing the spoils with six wins each. An all-important seventh is not the only thing on the line as silverware awaits the champion. Gauff has picked up some big wins in recent times. That Roland Garros triumph was after she took home the WTA Finals crown in 2024, in which she beat Sabalenka in the semi-final stage.

Neither of them have ever picked up a positive string of momentum against one another, making it a very even and eagerly anticipated rivalry which is set to continue in Florida.