Aryna Sabalenka calls out shrieking Miami Open final fan after beating Coco Gauff to lift title

Aryna Sabalenka called out a shrieking fan for yelling during a point and apologised for telling them to “shut up” after beating Coco Gauff in a thrilling Miami Open final to complete the ‘Sunshine Double’. The World No 1 beat the American fourth seed Gauff in three sets, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, in front of a sold-out crowd of over 16,000 fans at the Hard Rock Stadium, the home of the NFL team the Miami Dolphins. The victory meant Sabalenka becomes just the fifth woman to win Indian Wells and the Miami Open back-to-back, and the first since Iga Swiatek in 2022.

Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka and Steffi Graf, who won the ‘Sunshine Double’ twice in 1994 and 1996, are the only other players on the WTA to have achieved the feat. Sabalenka won her third title from four tournaments this season, having only lost the Australian Open final to Elena Rybakina (AP) Sabalenka, who also defended her Miami Open title, overcome a surging Gauff after the 22-year-old forced a deciding set. Gauff was playing in the final of her home tournament in Florida for the first time and had the majority of the bumper crowd backing her, in what was likely to have been one of the loudest finals ever played on the WTA Tour.

The Australian umpire, Tom Sweeney, had his work cut out to keep the crowd under control. One fan in particular drew an irate response from Sabalenka at a tense moment during the third set after yelling ‘out’ on a ball that landed well inside the baseline. “We don’t need you to make calls, we have computers to do that,” umpire Sweeney quipped.

Sabalenka also laughed off a warning from Sweeney for an “audible obscenity”, and the World No 1 apologised to the fan during the post-final trophy ceremony. “I don’t know where you are, that lady that yelled, that hoped for the out, I shouldn't have been that rude,” Sabalenka said. “But come on, you cannot do that.