The Miami Open was familiar ground for Aryna Sabalenka, as she had previously faced Coco Gauff at the US Open in 2023 and the French Open final in 2025. But this time, she changed the outcome against the home favorite. The world No. 1 achieved the rare feat of winning the ‘Sunshine Double’ in the same season and even defended her title at Hard Rock Stadium. So, naturally, the 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova couldn’t help but appreciate the Belarusian’s dominance.

“Sabalenka has incredible power; she constantly puts you under pressure, and she shows just how much of a champion she is. Winning these two tournaments back-to-back, each lasting two weeks, is a truly, truly difficult feat,” Navratilova said on Tennis Channel.

Only four women have won Indian Wells and the Miami Open in the same year: Steffi Graf, Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka, and Iga Swiatek. And now, after four weeks of intense tennis, she has joined the elite list after dropping only two sets, both in the finals of the tournaments. 

It is worthwhile to dwell on the emphasis on difficulty, as there is a reason only five players have been able to achieve this. The ‘Sunshine Double’ is not just a case of playing well for four weeks in a row, but also demands physical stamina, mental strength, and the ability to sustain peak performance through to the finish line. And Aryna Sabalenka overcame it all, losing only one set throughout the Miami Open draw and surmounting a second-set hiccup in the final against Coco Gauff to claim the title in a three-set match.

Navratilova did not stop at acknowledging the achievement. She placed Sabalenka in a category of her own relative to the rest of the field.

“Sabalenka has therefore pulled ahead of the rest of the field; she has accomplished something very rare, and there’s a reason for that: she’s world number one. This match will probably be remembered as the one where she truly made her mark on the season, but congratulations to both players,” Navratilova concluded.

The difference that Martina Navratilova is highlighting lies not only in the number of ranking points but also in the level of performance that Aryna Sabalenka has demonstrated since the final at the Australian Open in January. In the four tournaments she has played so far this year, she has reached the final in each and won three.

Even the Miami final itself, a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Gauff, was not the best Sabalenka had ever played during the fortnight. She displayed frustration on occasion, lost a set after the dominant first set, and had to dig into her mental stores to finish the deciding set.

Having Stuttgart next on the list, the four-time Grand Slam champion arrives at the clay in form no other female player can match. The rest of the players have been cautioned.

Navratilova’s praise for Aryna Sabalenka did not come at the expense of Gauff. She applauded the American for giving a match to remember. 

Martina Navratilova gives Coco Gauff her due after heartbreaking home final

Coco Gauff’s effort of pushing Sabalenka into the third set did not go unnoticed. 

“Coco had to fight her way to get here, played four three-setters in a row until she won an easy one in the semis. And today she just ran into a better player in Sabalenka,” Martina Navratilova stated.

The trail to the final had been extremely hard, four three-set matches in a row, which exhausted both body and mind well before she had reached the big final on Saturday. The ability to make a second-set recovery by breaking Sabalenka’s serve and pushing her to a final set said it all about her competitive nature.

“She held her nerve beautifully when there were some close times. Gauff took advantage of that one break, because she only had two break points the whole match,” Navratilova added.

The statistics tell the story of how dominant Sabalenka was on her serve. The 22-year-old only got two breaking opportunities in the whole match and converted one of those at 5-4 in the second set. The fact that the 22-year-old made the most of the limited opportunity she had is a testament to her quality under pressure.

“Sabalenka just serving so well, backing it up and attacking. Coco has nothing to hang her head about. I think this is the best she’s played and still lost a match because Sabalenka just had a little bit more on her shots,” Navratilova concluded.

Given that this was Coco Gauff’s first final appearance this year, she will be hoping for better results in the future. As for Sabalenka, it remains to be seen what other victories she has in store.