Sabalenka dealt with windy conditions on Thursday to topple Viktoriya Tomova, 6-3, 6-0 and kick off what she hopes will be a career-best result at the Hard Rock Stadium.
“I like it here, and honestly, I have no answer for why I couldn’t play really well here before,” she told Prakash Amritraj at the Tennis Channel Cadillac Desk.
“At first, I was just a newcomer to the tour and I was learning. Then, I was making it really far at Indian Wells and I didn’t know how to manage playing back-to-back tournaments and being on top of the game every day. I didn’t have a really good mindset last year. So, I’m working really hard to be successful in Miami and one day, I’ll make it happen.”
