American star Hailey Baptiste is shining brightly in her Miami Open journey, as she has impressively advanced to her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal round, where she will be clashing against the elite Aryna Sabalenka. Her dominant form has recently garnered praise from the former World No. 1, who has highlighted her transformation, among other significant things.
Kim Clijsters Applauds Hailey Baptiste’s Breakthrough Run at Miami Open 2026
Baptiste entered the Miami Open after competing at the Indian Wells Open, where she defeated Emiliana Arango in the round of 128 and then lost the round of 64 to eventual finalist Elena Rybakina. Her dominant form came to light at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, where she surpassed Tatjana Maria in the round of 128 and Liudmila Samsonova in the next round.
In the third round, the American star faced Elina Svitolina, defeating her 6-3, 7-5. In the fourth round, Baptiste faced her Indian Wells doubles partner, Jeļena Ostapenko, once again showing her dominance by overcoming her in straight sets with a concluding score of 6-3, 6-4.
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Her steady growth and transformation throughout the tournaments drew positive attention from Kim Clijsters, the Belgian icon, who won 41 singles titles, including four majors, and 11 doubles titles. In the recent episode of her podcast ‘Love All with Kim Clijsters,’ with tennis reporter Blair Henley, she shared her joy of seeing Baptiste reach greater heights in her career.
Clijsters expressed, noting her Miami Open journey, “Hailey Baptiste is doing really well. She’s really sticking out for me. Started with Tatjana Maria, who’s a very tricky player. Then Svitolina, she beat Ostapenko, and just to see her like grow in confidence. I’ve seen her grow and become more confident and work on her game, work on the weaknesses, but still keep building on her strength.”
While focusing on her physical and technical strengths and how the American star is moving from her potential to having results, she further shared, “She’s very strong, has a great serve, hits a heavy ball. But you can tell that she’s been working on some of her weaknesses, like the finesse, she has the full coverage, she can do everything on court, and it’s great to see. I think she’s moving better than she was before. I think it’s all kind of falling into place for her.”
Clijsters ended her views by pointing out how confidence is changing Baptiste’s career trajectory, expressing, “Sometimes, when you have all the tools and the flexibility to kind of play around a little bit with it all. It’s not always as easy in big moments to know which decisions to make at the right time. And I think it takes time to learn about yourself and your opponents, but yeah, she’s doing it all. And confidence does a lot of things for a person.”
READ MORE: Aryna Sabalenka vs Hailey Baptiste Preview: Head-to-Head, Prediction for Miami Open 2026
In the quarterfinals, Sabalenka awaits the American, following the successful defense of her Brisbane International title, her victory at the Indian Wells Masters, and her Australian Open final.
After defeating Qinwen Zheng in the round of 16, Sabalenka has reached her 32nd career WTA 1000 quarterfinal, second-highest among active players, trailing fellow Belarusian star Victoria Azarenka.
