Ashleigh Barty Wins 2021 Miami Open After Bianca Andreescu Suffers Ankle Injury

World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty won her second consecutive Miami Open title Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, beating eighth-seeded Bianca Andreescu 6-4, 4-0, before Andreescu had to retire because of an ankle injury.

Barty repeated as the Miami Masters champion after previously winning the tournament in 2019. It wasn't held last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The win also marks the 24-year-old Barty's second WTA title of 2021, as she won the Yarra Valley Classic in her native Australia in February.

Andreescu, 20, played in her first final Saturday since 2019 after sitting out all of 2020 because of injury and the pandemic.

Barty was in firm control of the match in the second set when Andreescu rolled her ankle, causing her to need medical treatment in between games.

The Canadian attempted to play through it, but after going down 4-0 in the second set, an emotional Andreescu made the difficult decision to retire from the match:

Even before the injury occurred, Andreescu didn't look like her normal self, as she was playing to Barty's strengths.

Barty broke Andreescu twice in the first set, and ESPN's Pam Shriver noted that Andreescu wasn't doing enough to test Barty's suspect backhand:

With Andreescu failing to dictate the play, Barty closed out the opening set on serve and moved closer to another title:

The first-set stats showed that Barty was controlling the match in most areas, getting the better of Andreescu in terms of winners and break points won:

Barty avoided a letdown in the second set by breaking Andreescu again right out of the gates, and once Andreescu rolled her ankle down 3-0 in the set, it was clear that the match was essentially over.

Although it didn't end on ideal terms, Barty was unquestionably the better player Saturday, and she navigated past a tough opponent.

Entering the match, there was reason to believe an upset could be in the works given Andreescu's impressive record against Top 10 players during her young career:

Saturday marked the first-ever meeting between Barty and Andreescu, and Barty proved why she deserves to be the No. 1 player in the world:

Barty is playing some of the best tennis of her career and seems poised to add to her Grand Slam title total, which sits at only one—the 2019 French Open.

As for Andreescu, the loss and injury represent setbacks after she worked so hard to return to an elite level this year.

Things have not gone according to plan for Andreescu since she won the 2019 U.S. Open, but reaching the final of the Miami Open could be a building block for her, provided the injury doesn't prove to be serious.