Iga Swiatek scored a sensational win against Naomi Osaka in the Miami Open final and predicted it would mark "the start of a great rivalry".
A 6-4 6-0 victory for Swiatek means the new WTA number one has won three consecutive WTA 1000 titles, becoming the first player to do so at the beginning of a season.
Saturday's success sealed the 'sunshine double' as the 20-year-old captured the Indian Wells and Miami titles back to back, becoming the youngest player to achieve that feat, and only the fourth in history, after Steffi Graf, who did it twice, Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka.
Addressing Osaka, Swiatek said: "I wanted to say I'm pretty glad we could play this match, and I think it's the start of a great rivalry.
"You're really an inspiration and this sport is better with you, so keep going."
Osaka is battling her way back into the sport after documenting her struggles with mental health and depression, and her ranking stood at 77 before this tournament.
She was reduced to tears in Indian Wells after being heckled by a spectator, and the Japanese star, a former WTA number one, referenced that incident in a post-match speech after losing to Swiatek.
Thanking her support team, Osaka said they were "the ones who keep pushing me forward after the things that happened two weeks ago – they're the rock that stays by my side".
Although Swiatek beat her resoundingly in the final, these two appear to be close allies, with a meal they enjoyed together in Australia in January 2020 having sparked a friendship.
"I want to congratulate Iga," said Osaka. "I was just thinking yesterday about when I had that dinner with you in Australia, and watching your journey is really incredible, and I hope you continue having fun. Apparently we're tied 1-1 now."
Osaka, who beat Swiatek in Toronto three years ago in their only past meeting, said her conqueror was "an incredible, amazing person", and assured her own supporters she had been having "a lot of fun".
"I hope I can keep working hard and get more opportunities to be in a situation like this again," Osaka added. "Just to be in the final means a lot to me."
That is both pertinent and refreshing given Osaka's future in tennis has appeared in doubt during the past year.
Swiatek, meanwhile, goes from strength to strength. From her French Open final triumph in October 2020 to this latest win, she has won each of the six finals she has contested. Across the last four, Swiatek has won four 6-0 'bagel' sets.
Doing the Indian Wells and Miami double, after previously taking the Doha title this year, shows Swiatek to be a worthy number one.
"I didn't think that was possible," she told Amazon Prime, assessing her back-to-back wins in America. "I'm trying to see what my limits are, and when I was coming from Indian Wells, I said to my coach, 'Did you ever have a situation like that where a player plays the final at Indian Wells and has to play the next match in three days?'. He said that I shouldn't worry and we can do it."
Swiatek's winning streak stands at 17 matches, her record for the season is 26-3, and she has won 20 consecutive sets. Her new number one status will be confirmed on Monday, when the newly retired Ash Barty is taken off the WTA list, and Swiatek hopes to stay there.
"We're going to see. The end of the season is still a long way," she said. "I hope I'm going to keep doing well with the pressure."
Sinner and Berrettini send defending champions Italy into Davis Cup final
Jannik Sinner's victory over Alex de Minaur clinched Italy's place in another Davis Cup final, with Matteo Berrettini also victorious as the defending champions beat Australia 2-0.
Italy won the Davis Cup for the first time since 1976 last year, and they will have an opportunity to defend their crown against the Netherlands on Sunday.
Former Wimbledon finalist Berrettini got the ball rolling with an entertaining 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 7-5 victory over Thanasi Kokkinakis, not surrendering a break after losing the opener in a tie-break.
That teed up Sinner to close out Italy's victory, with the world number one overcoming De Minaur 6-3 6-4, the same scoreline he beat the Australian by at the ATP Finals earlier this month.
Speaking after his victory in Malaga, Sinner said: "It means a lot. It was a tough encounter, playing Alex. We know each other quite well now, so I have to be very careful every time.
"It's a very tough challenge for me, so I was looking forward to this one. Obviously, it helped a lot that Matteo won the singles today. He played amazing tennis. It was very high quality.
"Hopefully, this can give us some confidence for [Sunday]. It's going to be a very difficult and tough day for us and also the Netherlands."
Data Debrief: Back-to-back for Italy
Italy's men are looking to follow in the footsteps of their female counterparts, who won the Billie Jean King Cup earlier this week.
They are just the third nation in history to make back-to-back finals at both the Davis Cup and the Federation/Billie Jean King Cup, after the United States (1963-64, 1978-79, 1981-82 and 1990-91) and Australia (1963-64 and 1964-65).
Djokovic appoints Murray as coach for Australian Open
Novak Djokovic has announced his long-term former rival Andy Murray as his coach for the Australian Open in 2025.
Murray, a three-time Grand Slam winner, announced his retirement earlier this year and played his final match at the Paris Olympics in August.
He will join Djokovic's team in the off-season and coach him through the opening grand slam of the year, which begins on January 12.
This will be Murray's first coaching role since retiring following a 19-year career.
"We played each other since we were boys. 25 years of being rivals, of pushing each other beyond our limits," Djokovic said in a video on social media.
"We had some of the most epic battles in our sport. They called us game changers, risk-takers, history makers.
"I thought our story may be over - turns out it has one final chapter.
"It's time for one of my toughest opponents to step into my corner. Welcome onboard coach, Andy Murray."
Djokovic failed to win a major title for the first time since 2017, though he did clinch a long-awaited Olympic gold medal in Paris.
The Serb is currently level with Margaret Court for the most major singles titles by any player. He has a good record in Australia though, winning 10 times in Melbourne, beating Murray in four of those finals.
Murray, who beat Djokovic to win the US Open title in 2012 and Wimbledon the following year, says he hopes they can achieve success together.
"I'm going to be joining Novak's team in the off-season, helping him to prepare for the Australian Open," Murray said.
"I'm really excited for it and looking forward to spending time on the same side of the net as Novak for a change, helping him to achieve his goals."
Girona 4-1 Espanyol: Miovski bags double as hosts ride on first-half blitz
Bojan Miovski scored twice as Girona thrashed Espanyol 4-1 in LaLiga at Estadi Municipal de Montilivi on Saturday.
Bryan Gil and Ladislav Krejci were also on the scoresheet as the home side raced to a 4-0 lead inside the first half hour, with Javi Puado scoring the visiting side's only goal after the break.
After the match was halted because of a fan being taken ill in the crowd, Gil opened the scoring when he unleashed a stunning long-range strike into the bottom corner with four minutes on the clock.
Gil was behind the second goal for Michel's side too, as he capitalised on a defensive error and crossed to Miovski, who made it 2-0 in the 16th minute before the pair combined again for a third five minutes later.
Donny van de Beek's header from Yaser Asprilla's corner was pushed in by Krejci for Girona's fourth in the 27th minute.
Espanyol got a consolation goal 10 minutes into the second half when Puado hit a long-range strike that found the back of Paulo Gazzaniga's net.
Girona, last season's surprise package, climbed to fifth in LaLiga with 21 points, while Espanyol are 19th and in the relegation zone with 10 points.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
