Sabalenka ends Collins title defence at Miami Open

Aryna Sabalenka halted Danielle Collins' title defence at the Miami Open, reaching the last eight with a straight-sets victory over the home favourite.

Collins had lost each of her first six tour-level meetings with Sabalenka, including three US Open contests and three matches at WTA 1000 events, with the world number one coming out on top with a 6-4 6-4 win on this occasion.

She failed to shrug off her dismal record against the Belarusian in Florida. Having bounced back from an early break, she was immediately broken to love in the very next game as Sabalenka demonstrated her extraordinary power from the baseline.

After taking the opener in 35 minutes, helped by a 68% success rate behind her own serve, Sabalenka went up another gear in the second set.

Sabalenka converted her fourth break point of a mammoth opening game, and she never looked like letting that advantage slip, converting her third match point after missing two opportunities against Collins' serve.

Standing between Sabalenka and the semi-finals is a meeting with Zheng Qinwen, who has lost all five of her meetings with the three-time grand slam champion.

Another One! @SabalenkaA | #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/Y1pxhGbMM4
— wta (@WTA) March 24, 2025

Data debrief: Sabalenka's quarter-final mark

Sabalenka's win brought up her 26th quarter-final appearance at WTA 1000 events, with this her 55th such appearance.

The last player to reach more WTA 1000 quarter-finals in fewer attempts was Maria Sharapova, who did so on her 46th such appearance at the 2018 Madrid Open.

In the last decade, only Iga Swiatek (nine) in 2022 and Serena Williams (11) in 2015 have dropped fewer games than Sabalenka (12) in 2025 to reach the women's singles quarter-finals at the Miami Open.