Aryna Sabalenka’s hope of completing the Sunshine Double remained alive on Monday as she defeated Qinwen Zheng to reach the Miami Open quarter-finals.
Sabalenka proved too strong for her Chinese peer, winning the fourth round contest 6-3, 6-4.
The Belarusian has been on a tear since losing the Australian Open final to Elena Rybakina, and has now won 10 consecutive matches on the Tour.
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Speaking after her victory over Zheng, Sabalenka reflected on the Australian Open final and what she learned from the experience.
Aryna Sabalenka made some mental changes after losing the Australian Open final
During her post-match press conference, Sabalenka noted the pain of letting the 2026 Australian Open final slip from her grasp.
The 27-year-old was 3-0 ahead in the final set against Elena Rybakina, but ended up losing 4-6, 6-4, 4-6.
“I think all of the tough finals I lost are pushing me. I don’t want that to happen again,” Sabalenka told reporters in Florida.
“This Australian Open was kind of like the final line. I felt like I was playing really great tennis. I was 3-0 up and it felt like everything was in my hands.
“I felt like Elena at that point of the match did not feel very confident, and I felt like I basically just gave that final.
“She then stepped in and was thinking I am still in the match, but that one was very painful.
“But as soon as I left the Australian Open I kind of forgot it, we just spoke with my team, we did some mental changes to the way we approached the finals now. We changed some preparation.
| Round | Opponent | Result | Score |
| 1st Round | Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah | Won | 6-4, 6-1 |
| 2nd Round | Zhuoxuan Bai | Won | 6-3, 6-1 |
| 3rd Round | Anastasia Potapova | Won | 7–6, 7–6 |
| 4th Round | Victoria Mboko | Won | 6-1, 7-6 |
| Quarterfinal | Iva Jovic | Won | 6-3, 6-0 |
| Semifinal | Elina Svitolina | Won | 6–2, 6–3 |
| Final | Elena Rybakina | Lost | 4–6, 6–4, 4–6 |
“It’s always a work in progress, you never lose actually, you learn and you just try to do better next time.”
Losing to Rybakina marked the second consecutive occasion Sabalenka had been defeated in an Australian Open final, following her loss to Madison Keys in the 2025 final.
When asked if her loss to Rybakina was more ‘painful’ than her loss to Keys, Sabalenka began by acknowledging the crushing experience of losing any final.
“They are all super painful!” she said.
“I would say this year was more painful than last year because last year Madison just outplayed me. She played incredible points where I could not do anything, it was basically in her hands.
“This year, I think I just screwed it up myself.”
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Aryna Sabalenka matches Serena Williams’ feat
As per statisticians OptaAce, Aryna Sabalenka is the first player to win nine consecutive matches without dropping a set in Women’s Singles at Miami Open since Serena Williams, who won 11 consecutive straight set matches across 2002 and 2003.
Sabalenka could make it 10 in a row when she plays American star Hailey Baptiste in the Miami Open quarter-finals.
Baptiste [pictured below], the world number 45, has been in great form, beating Elina Svitolina and Jelena Ostapenko on her way to the last eight.
The winner of Sabalenka and Baptiste will play Jessica Pegula or Elena Rybakina for a spot in the Miami Open final, which is due to take place on Saturday.
On the other side of the draw, Victoria Mboko, Karolina Muchova, Coco Gauff and Belinda Bencic will compete for a place in Saturday’s final.
