Through sponsorship changes and various locales over the course of its 35-year history, the Miami Open has been consistent on one front: rewarding those who’ve had prior success as at least one player in every WTA semifinal lineup at the tournament since 1986 has reached the championship round before.

That streak has come to an end this year as no one among the final four—Simona Halep, Karolina Pliskova, Ashleigh Barty and Anett Kontaveit—had ever advanced to the final at the event. The only other time that happened was in the first year in 1985, when Martina Navratilova defeated home favorite Chris Evert in straight sets.

Throughout the event’s history, the winners’ list has been dominated by a handful of players with Serena Williams leading the pack with eight titles, the most recent coming in 2015 over surprise runner-up Carla Suarez Navarro.

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And even when she and the other multiple champs weren’t taking home the first-place hardware, they were lurking in the later stages of the tournament, like last year, when three-time titlist Victoria Azarenka advanced to the semis by way of wild card.

Both Halep and Pliskova had been at this stage before with their most recent appearances coming in 2015 and 2017, respectively. For Kontaveit and Barty, this tournament marks new territory as they’ve both reached their first Premier Mandatory semifinals.

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In the case of Barty, she has gone one further by reaching the final with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Kontaveit on Thursday. She'll face Pliskova in the final after the Czech ousted Halep, 7-5, 6-1.

Follow Van on Twitter: @Van_Sias

The Stat Sheet: A
semifinal first for
the Miami Open

The Stat Sheet: A semifinal first for the Miami Open