4 women to win Miami Open as World No. 1 in 21st century ft. Aryna Sabalenka, Serena Williams

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus won the Miami Open title last Saturday, March 29, by beating Jessica Pegula of the United States 7-5 6-2. The win consolidated the Belarusian's position as the World No. 1.

The Miami Open is one of the WTA 1000 tournaments and also one of the most prestigious tournaments held in the United States. Since the beginning of the 21st century, only four women have been able to win the title as the World No. 1. In this article, we will take a look at them.

#1. Martina Hingis (2000)

Hingis remains the youngest World No. 1 in the history of women's tennis. She won the Miami Open in 2000, which was then known as the Ericsson Open, at a canter, dropping only 21 games in the entire tournament.

Hingis beat Lindsay Davenport 6-3 6-2 in the final. More surprisingly, she managed to serve a double bagel to Monica Seles in the semifinal. Two-time defending champion Venus Williams did not participate in the tournament that year and it undoubtedly helped Hingis.

#2. Serena Williams (2003, 2013, 2014, 2015)

Serena Williams reigned supreme in women's tennis for the first 15 years or so of the 21st century. She won the Miami Open title four times as the World No. 1.

She beat Jennifer Capriati 4-6 6-4 6-1 in the final of the 2003 Miami Open, then known as NASDAQ-100 Open. In 2013, she beat Maria Sharapova 4-6 6-3 6-0 in the final. In 2014 and 2015, she defeated Li Na 7-5 6-1 and Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2 6-0 in the finals, respectively, to win the title in Miami. Williams was thus on a roll despite being well into her thirties.

#3. Ashleigh Barty (2021):

Barty managed to have a nice career before retiring early from the game. The Australian won three Grand Slam titles. She also won the Miami Open title in 2021, leading Bianca Andreescu 6-3 4-0 in the final before the latter gave her a walkover.

Barty beat seeded players like Victoria Azarenka, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Svitolina en route to the title. She became only the third woman to achieve the feat of winning the title as the World No. 1.

#4. Aryna Sabalenka:

As mentioned earlier, Sabalenka won the title after beating Pegula in the final in straight sets. The Belarusian thus managed to win her eighth WTA 1000 title of her career.

Sabalenka did not drop a single set in the entire tournament. She dropped only 30 games in her six matches, beating seeded players like Pegula, Jasmine Paolini and Danielle Collins in the process. With the titles triumph, the Belarusian has reaffirmed her status as the best female player on hard courts at the moment.