Aryna Sabalenka beats Jasmine Paolini to secure spot in Miami final

World number one Aryna Sabalenka surged into the final of the Miami Open with an impressive 6-2, 6-2 victory over Italy's Jasmine Paolini.

In just 71 minutes, Sabalenka secured her win against the sixth seed and will now compete against the victor of Thursday's other semi-final, which features American Jessica Pegula and wildcard Alexandra Eala.

This triumph marks the first time in her career that the Belarusian, who lost to Mirra Andreeva in the Indian Wells final earlier this month, has reached the Miami final.

"I'm super happy with the level I played today. Of course super happy to be in my first Miami Open final," said Sabalenka.

Sabalenka maintained the lead throughout her match against Paolini, with the score only level on two occasions—once at 1-1 in each set. She delivered six aces and successfully broke the Italian's serve four times.

"I definitely would say that this was one of the best matches in the season so far. I don't know. I was just so focused on myself, on the things I had to do today.

"It felt like everything was just, like, going smoothly my way," she said.

Sabalenka will be eager to erase the recollection of her losses in both the Indian Wells final and the Australian Open final, where she was defeated by Madison Keys.

"The lessons (of those defeats) was I believe focus on myself, not on what's going on the other side," she said.

"I think in those finals I was more focusing on my opponents than on myself. I think I just have to bring the same attitude, the same mindset that I had today, I think I have to bring it in the finals," she said.

"I really feel this time I'm going to do better than I did in the last two finals," added the 26-year-old.

She is the sixth woman in history to compete in the finals of both events on the American 'Sunshine Swing' during the same season.