"Don't think about social media, people, expectations" - Aryna Sabalenka confident of maintaining form in clay season after shock Miami Open exit

World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka exited the Miami Open in the quarterfinals after being stunned 6-4, 6-4 by World No. 74 Sorana Cirstea.

Sabalenka entered the match as the favorite to win but her Romanian opponent had other plans. Cirstea put on a solid display to claim her second top-5 win in Miami and reach her first WTA 1000 semifinal since 2013. She will next face either Petra Kvitova or Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Sabalenka, who has been in terrific form this year, was later asked what she would need to do to maintain it during the clay-court season. The 24-year-old said that focusing solely on herself would be crucial while not thinking about social media, other people and the expectations placed on her.

"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," Aryna Sabalenka said in her post-match press conference.

"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," she added.

"I was struggling a lot with the conditions" - Aryna Sabalenka

Aryna Sabalenka in action during the Miami Open

Reflecting on her defeat to Sorana Cirstea, Sabalenka said she was struggling with the heat and could not adapt to the conditions in Miami.

"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," the 24-year-old said.

The loss was just the third of the season for Sabalenka out of 23 matches. The Belarusian is next scheduled to compete at the Charleston Open, which is the first clay-court tournament of the year.

Sabalenka is seeded third at the WTA 500 event and will be one of the favorites to win the title. She suffered a disappointing Round of 16 loss against Amanda Anisimova in Charleston last year, going down 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.