In Miami, it’s Jessica Pegula taking on Aryna Sabalenka in the final

In the WTA 1000 in Miami Jessica Pegula, world number 4, beat in three sets with a score of 7-6 5-7 6-3 in almost two and a half hours, the absolute revelation of the tournament, Filipina Alexandra Eala, number 140.

Then it will be the U.S. homegrown favorite who will take on tennis royalty, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, in the final, who rifled a double 6-2 in the first semifinal to Jasmine Paolini.

It was Eala who made the first break of the match in the second game, but Pegula took it back immediately, then went as low as 2-5 missing a counter-break ball at 2-4, but managed to come back at 5-5 and win the tie-break stringing five consecutive points from 2-3 to 7-3.

Almost opposite is the trend in the second set as it is Pegula who goes ahead by a break on 3-1 but here she loses three games in a row and two are breaks suffered. She evens the score again at 4-4 but Eala’s break at 5-5 is decisive in extending the match. In the third set there is no break until 4-3, when Pegula makes the decisive stretch.

The previous record between the two finalists is 6 wins to 2 in favor of Sabalenka. In Miami they have never met but last year they played two finals, both won by Sabalenka, 6-3 7-5 in Cincinnati but especially the 7-5 doubles at the US Open.