Rain delayed play at the Miami Open presented by Itaú on Tuesday, but when the skies finally cleared and the courts had dried, Aryna Sabalenka and Jasmine Paolini took charge of the two quarter-finals in the top half of the draw without dropping a set.
“I feel very good, I am very happy. Today was a very good match and I enjoyed being on the court. I am happy with the result I achieved. I was just trying to save break points, it is very important on fast courts, trying to serve better in crucial points, but sometimes I need to be more consistent when I am ahead in the score.” Jasmine Paolini
Sabalenka, the World No 1, reached the Miami semi-finals for the first time, despite having won 16 of her 18 WTA singles titles on hard courts, with her previous best showings here being Last 8 appearances in 2021 and 2023.
The top seed survived a challenge from the reigning Olympic Gold medalist, Zheng Qinwen, 6-2 7-5, after an hour and 36 minutes on Tuesday night.
The Chinese No 1 lost the first set rather routinely, but then she read the Sabalenka serve sublimely in the second, breaking the Belarusian 3 times in a row to lead that set, 4-2.
Sabalenka, though, steadily righted the ship, pulling off a huge escape from 0-40 down to hold for 4-4, after which she took charge for good with punishing service returns to break for 6-5.
A quick hold in the next game gave the World No 1 a well-earned win, in which she won 29 of Zheng’s 35 second-serve points, a near 83% success rate that led to 7 breaks of serve.
“Honestly, every match is tough against her, I always have to work really hard to get the win, and today was an incredible level from both of us,” said Sabalenka. “I’m super happy to get this win. I’m super happy with the way I handled all the emotions and handled the pressure.”
9th seed Zheng Qinwen had her chances in the second set but succumbed to Aryna Sabalenka in the first quarter-final of Day 8 of the WTA 1000 in Miami
© Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
The match had begun with early signs of trouble for Zheng, who had to save a couple of break points in the very first game, but Sabalenka also faced some struggles in the following game, squandering her chances as both players held serve to level at 1-1.
Breaks were then exchanged, but Sabalenka gained the upper hand, taking the lead at 4-2 after securing two consecutive ones.
With the advantage now on her side, the Belarusian took control of the set, stringing together 5 games on the trot, and comfortably closing it out as her serve improved throughout.
Sabalenka landed 81% of her first serves, winning 57% of those points, with Zheng managing only 46% of her first deliveries, winning 64% of them, while the Chinese’s biggest struggles came on her second serve, winning just 1 of the 13 points in the opener.
In the second set, though, it was Zheng who struck first, holding serve and securing an early break to go up 2-0.
Once again, the momentum shifted as the set turned into a roller-coaster, with both players trading breaks.
At 3-2, Zheng appeared to have the upper hand, showing more composure as Sabalenka’s frustration grew, especially when her serve faltered, and the Chinese 9th seed applied pressure.
The set saw 6 breaks, 3 for each, leaving the score level at 4-4 after several long rallies.
Although the 22-year-old Chinese held her serve one more time, Sabalenka proved more effective in the crucial moments, holding hers solidly towards the end, and capitalising on her first break opportunity to close out the match.
Sabalenka, who is now a dominant 6-0 head-to-head against Zheng, becomes only the 4th World No 1 to reach the semi-finals of three of the biggest events on the WTA Tour in the first 3 months of the season, the Australian Open, Indian Wells Open and Miami Open.
World No 6 Jasmine Paolini dispatched Magda Linette in straight sets to reach the Last 4 where she will meet Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday
© Al Bello/Getty Images
Meanwhile, Paolini, the World No 6, also advanced to the semi-finals with a decisive 6-3 6-2 win over Poland’s Magda Linette, ranked 34.
The 6th seed, who reached the finals at the French Open and Wimbledon last year, becomes the first Italian to reach the Last four in Miami.
Despite the lengthy 3-hour rain delay, Paolini quickly established control over Linette, who had previously upset Coco Gauff in the Last 16.
Paolini, aiming for her 2nd career WTA 1000 title, exuded confidence throughout the 77-minute encounter.
“I feel very good, I am very happy. Today was a very good match and I enjoyed being on the court. I am happy with the result I achieved,” Paolini told the media. “I was just trying to save break points, it is very important on fast courts, trying to serve better in crucial points, but sometimes I need to be more consistent when I am ahead in the score.”
Before Miami, Paolini had not reached any quarter-finals in 2025, and she was beaten in the Last 16 at all three of this year’s previous WTA 1000 events in Doha, Dubai, and Indian Wells.
“I think, I didn’t play bad this season, but I just didn’t have a great result. But I was there. I lost many matches but to big opponents,” she said. “It was tough, but I was repeating to myself that I was there – maybe I just needed a little more confidence, and it came here, maybe.”
“Winning matches helps a lot. Now I am happy to have reached the semi-finals.”
Paolini is turning the tide in her favour in Miami, as she eyes her 2nd WTA 1000 title, her first coming last year in Dubai, a result that kick-started her 2024 break-through rise into the year-end Top 5, highlighting the resurgence of Italian tennis.
“Jannik [Sinner] has helped a lot, we have the World No 1, it’s amazing for Italy,” she said. “Tennis is growing a lot, we believe more that we can achieve great results because we see other players doing it.”
“When I was warming up, Lorenzo [Sonego] and Matteo [Berrettini] were in the area, there are many Italians, so it’s nice.”
Magda Linette, who upset Coco Gauff in the Last 16, could not get past Jasmine Paolini on Tuesday night
© Al Bello/Getty Images
The stage is now set for two of last year’s top players to battle in the semi-finals, and Sabalenka leads 3-2 in the head-to-head with Paolini.
The Italian won their first meeting in a 3rd-set tiebreak at a British grass-court ITF Challenger event in 2017, but Sabalenka won their first WTA Tour match, indoors at Linz, in 2020.
They split their next two meetings, both at hard-court WTA 1000 events, with Paolini winning at 2022 Indian Wells and Sabalenka at 2023 Beijing, before their latest clash at last year’s WTA Finals Riyadh, where the Belarusian won, 6-3 7-5.
“We are in the semi-finals, so it’s nice to play this kind of match,” Paolini said. “I feel fortunate to play these types of encounters. I hope to have a good performance and enjoy the match because it is important to me.”
The winner will move one step closer to becoming the first Top 10 player to win a WTA 1000 title this season, after Amanda Anisimova won this year’s first WTA 1000 event in Doha, and Mirra Andreeva went back-to-back with the titles in Dubai and Indian Wells.
On Wednesday, the remaining two quarter-finals will see No 2 seed Iga Swiatek facing Alexandra Eala, the teenage wild-card from the Philippines, who has already defeated Australian Open champion Madison Keys, and, later, Britain’s Emma Raducanu, who is experiencing her best tournament run since winning the US Open in 2021, taking on American 4th seed Jessica Pegula.
