American Townsend and Siniakova win the Miami Open for the Sunshine Double

By Harvey Fialkov / Staff writer

MIAMI GARDENS – The combination of a, “mom’s power nap,” and strategy session during a 3-hour-15-minute rain delay helped turn a tight women’s doubles final into a rout for the team of American Taylor Townsend and Czechian Katerina Siniakova in the Miami Open Sunday evening.

Townsend and Siniakova fought off four set points in the opening set to down top-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini, 7-6 (0), 6-1, the same pair they defeated in the semifinals of Indian Wells before they won that tournament a few weeks ago. The duo becomes the first Sunshine Double doubles champions since Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka achieved the feat in 2019.

On Saturday, world No. 1 Sabalenka edged American Coco Gauff to become the fifth woman to win the Sunshine Double. Sabalenka is the only woman or man in history to win both the singles and doubles Sunshine Double.

“It was an amazing journey,’’ said Siniakova, 29, who won her 35^th title, including eight WTA 1000 championships and 10 Grand Slam titles as well as the gold medal in the 2021 Olympics for the career Golden Slam.

“It was really difficult because the conditions in Indian Wells and here are totally different. We worked really hard and maybe the rain today helped us because we found the rhythm. I’m really proud of how we improved as a team and both those titles mean a lot.”

Townsend, an Atlanta resident, and Siniakova, the second seeds, won their fifth title together, including two Grand Slams (2024 Wimbledon and 2025 Australian Open).

“I’m just happy we’ve done something together, accomplished this as a team,’’ said Townsend, 29, who spent several high school years in Boca Raton where her mother is a tennis coach and guidance counselor at Boca Raton High. “That goes down in the history books like, ‘Taylor and Kat, Taylorina did the Sunshine Double.’

“It’s really special for me because it’s something Kat hasn’t done before. Finally, we’re making history together. Every time we do things, she’s won this, she’s won that. This is nice and is something new to me. It means a lot to me because I’ve never accomplished it before in my career and when we started we never talked about this.

“Just try to be better each match we step on the court. Today was a perfect indication of that. We weren’t playing our best; weren’t doing what we wanted to do in the first set, but after the rain delay we were able to come back and from start to finish play our game the way we wanted to.”

Townsend was serving at 4-4 in the first set when Siniakova’s lob was picked off by Errani for a backhand volley winner and a critical break. At 5-4 and Paolini serving, the Italians jumped out 40-0 for four set points (game point at 40-all in doubles). But they couldn’t close it out as Townsend made two spectacular volleys to knot it at 5-5.

“I have some of the best hands in the world and could definitely volley against anyone,’’ she said. “I would back myself 10-of-10 times at the net. I’m really happy that was the point that saved us. I didn’t really think about it except we were able to get that [break] to keep the momentum and keep it alive.”

At 5-6, the Italians went up 40-0 when the rain came to cause a 3-hour-15 minute delay. The match was moved from Stadium Court to the Grandstand to prevent a long delay in the men’s final.

During the rain delay,Townsend said she ate, had long conversations with her partner and took a “mom’s 15-minute power nap,” while Siniakova was “stressed” because she had to change her flight to Charleson for the start of clay season.

“During the rain delay we talked about what we wanted to do,’’ Siniakova said. “We did kind of a reset. … We wanted to stay aggressive and stay there on every point. We knew what we wanted to do and it helped us get into the zone and into our game.”

“I was a little bit surprised because that’s never happened in a final,’’ said Townsend about the court switch, whose son Adyn turned 5 on the weekend the duo won Indian Wells. “Honestly, I didn’t really care, I just wanted to finish. I wanted to play. It was nice the fans came out and the stands weren’t empty.

“I was just chilling [during the rain delay]. When [the tournament supervisor] said it was time to go, we went. I didn’t mind; a court is a court. That’s how I grew up. That’s how I was raised from the time I started playing. I played on courts with cracks and weeds up to here. As long as it has lines you can do whatever you can do.”

After the delay Errani served it out to send the first set to a tiebreak. Three minutes later, with Townsend poaching and pouncing on everything in the neighborhood, the duo cruised to the finish line after the 7-0 tiebreak shutout.

Townsend and Siniakova won 75 percent of their first serves and converted 5-of-10 break points to just 2-of-7 for the Italians. They will rise one spot to No. 3 in the Doubles Race , while Errani and Paolini improve from No. 8 to No. 6.

This was the second Miami final for both players; Townsend reached the 2023 final with Leylah Fernandez and Siniakova played in the  2018 final with fellow Czechian Barbora Krejcikova.

Hewitt dominated wheelchair tournament with two titles

Alfie Hewett was crowned singles champion at the inaugural WT500 Miami Open, while he and Gordon Reid also reached a milestone 60^th men’s wheelchair doubles title.

The men’s wheelchair singles final saw a blockbuster meeting between No. 2 Hewett of Great Britain and world No.1 Tokito Oda of Japan. The Brit secured a 6-1, 6-4 victory and was crowned the first Miami Open men’s wheelchair singles champion.

In another No.  1 vs. No. 2 matchup, Hewett teamed with fellow Brit Reid to capture the doubles title with 6-2, 6-0 victory over Spain’s Daniel Caverzaschi and Martin de la Puente.

In the women’s tournament, Dutch top seed Aniek van Koot edged compatriot  Lizzy de Greef 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to win the singles title. Top doubles seeds Angelica Bernal of Colombia and Zhenzhen Zhu of China defeated de Greef and Ksenia Chasteau of France, 6-1, 5-7, [10-4].

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About the Miami Open presented by Itaú

The 2026 Miami Open presented by Itaú will be played March 15 – March 29 at Hard Rock Stadium. The 15-day event is owned and operated by MARI and Hard Rock Stadium. The Miami Open is one of nine ATP Masters 1000 Series events on the ATP calendar, a WTA 1000 event on the WTA calendar, and annually hosts the world’s best players, with recent champions including the top players in each tour’s rankings – Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek. In 2025, the tournament attracted more than 400,000 spectators over its 15 days at Hard Rock Stadium. Widely regarded as the most glamorous stop on the ATP and WTA calendars, the Miami Open is defined by the city’s vibrant culture, nightlife, five-star dining and hospitality, iconic beaches, and celebrity appeal, along with its close proximity to Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

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