Iga Swiatek beats Naomi Osaka to win Miami Open, set to be world No. 1

MIAMI: Iga Swiatek's dream season continued as the incoming world number one scooped her third successive WTA 1000 title to beat Naomi Osaka in the Miami Open final on Saturday. The Polish 20-year-old became only the fourth - and youngest - player to win the 'Sunshine Double' of Indian Wells and Miami in the same year following Steffi Graf, Kim Cljisters and Victoria Azarenka with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Osaka.

Swiatek, who will be formally confirmed as world number one when the new WTA rankings are announced on Monday, has now won 17 straight games, a winning streak that includes titles in Doha, Indian Wells and now Miami. Osaka, 24, enjoyed a welcome return to form in Florida even if the four-time Grand Slam champion's first final since the Australian Open in 2021 ended in a comprehensive defeat. "I feel privileged to be among those players who have done this double before, I knew it would be tough playing these tournaments in a row but I took it step by step," said Swiatek, who won her maiden Grand Slam at the French Open in 2020 as a 19-year-old and will be the favorite to win another Roland Garros crown next month on her favored surface. "I was in the zone in the second set - that's the easiest way for me to be dominant. I was surprised I could handle all these matches. "I am still the same person though. My idols were like that and I don't want the success to change me in a negative way. It gives me confidence.

Swiatek headed into a seventh career final on the back of 16 straight wins -- the last player to win 16 or more in a row was Osaka, between Cincinnati in 2020 and last year's Miami Open. Osaka has been serving well this tournament but was broken by Swiatek to make it 3-2 in the first and began to look