"The key would be just to focus on myself": Sabalenka not thinking of expectations of others going into clay court season

Aryna Sabalenka isn't worried about her shocking loss at the Miami Open as she expects her form to translate well to the clay part of the season coming up.

Sabalenka was the heavy favourite against Cirstea at the Miami Open however she suffered a shocking loss to the Romanian in straight sets. Despite dealing with a groin injury for much of the event, Sabalenka still played really well cruising through the rounds. She didn't serve that well in this one but the loss doesn't concern her too much because she'll just keep focusing on herself:

"Yeah, I think the key would be just to focus on myself, don't think about social media, don't think about the people, expectations. Just focus on myself. Just do my thing, and I believe that if I'm going to play the same level or even better, wins will come. I just have to keep working hard, yeah, keep moving forward."

She added:

"There was some tough lessons in the first part of the season. I'll just learn (smiling), reset, and start working again from the beginning. Yeah, do my best to make sure I bring my best tennis on the clay court season."

Reflecting on the match, Sabalenka conceded that it wasn't her best match:

"Yeah, it definitely wasn't my best match. I was struggling a lot with the conditions, like heat. I felt like balls were flying too much and I couldn't find control, controlling the ball. Yeah, was just trying to do my best till the last point. I just couldn't adjust to these conditions unfortunately. Next time I'll try better."