I Struggled With 'Heat' Against Sorana Cirstea - Sabalenka

World number two Aryna Sabalenka has reflected on her shock defeat against 74th seed Sorana Cirstea in Wednesday's quarter-finals at the Miami Open.

The Belarusian attributed being stunned 6-4 6-4 by her Romanian opponent to her inability to adapt to the conditions in Miami.

She had entered the match as the favourite to win but Cirstea put on a solid display to claim her second top-5 win in Miami and reach her first WTA 1000 semi-final since 2013, setting up a meet with either Petra Kvitova or Ekaterina Alexandrova for a place in the final. 

"It definitely wasn't my best match," said Sabalenka, whose year began with victory at the Australia Open before losing to Elena Rybakina in the final of Indian Wells. 

"I was struggling a lot with the conditions, like heat. 

"I felt like balls were flying too much and I couldn't find control," she said.

"I was just trying to do my best 'til the last point. 

"I just couldn't adjust to these conditions, unfortunately.

"The first three months of the year were fantastic for me. 

"I'm just proud of the consistency of my game and I have to keep working, keep improving."

When asked what she would need to do to shrug off the defeat and get back to her best before the clay-court season, the 24-year-old said that she will focus solely on herself, not think about social media as well as 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.

"There were 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," Sabalenka added.