Aryna Sabalenka finds control with “small adjustment” to racquet in Indian Wells, Miami

MIAMI, Fla.—Aryna Sabalenka may be the WTA’s No. 1 player, but that doesn’t mean she’s content to rest on her laurels.

After coming up short in the Australian Open final in January, Sabalenka has returned with a vengeance at Indian Wells and in Miami.

She won her first big title of the year at the BNP Paribas Open, defeating Naomi Osaka, Victoria Mboko and Linda Noskova en route to the final, where she avenged her Melbourne loss to Elena Rybakina.

On Monday, Sabalenka—the top seed and defending champion at the Miami Open presented by Itau—charged past No. 23 seed Zheng Qinwen to book her spot in the quarterfinals without dropping a set.

Read More: Coco Gauff reaches first Miami Open quarterfinal, completes career set of all 10 WTA 1000 quarterfinals

What has fueled her post-Australian Open turnaround? The world No. 1 offered a few hints on Tennis Channel:

“Maybe I did a small adjustment on my racquet,” Sabalenka revealed to Prakash Amritraj after her 6-3, 6-4 win.

“I feel like there is always going to be the moment where you feel like you can improve in these little, but not little, things,” Sabalenka continued.

“I was brave enough before Indian Wells to do small adjustment on my racquet, and I’m super happy that I did it.”

Since last year, Sabalenka has endured a string of heartbreaking losses in major finals—including the 2026 Australian Open and 2025 WTA Finals, both to Elena Rybakina, the Roland Garros final to Coco Gauff, and the 2025 Australian Open final to Madison Keys.

The latest defeat in Melbourne proved to be the last straw for Sabalenka, who said she felt like she “just gave that final” after leading Rybakina 3-0 in the third set.

Sabalenka did not play in February, withdrawing from WTA 1000 events in Doha and Dubai. She said she used the time off to regroup, debrief with her team, and make some “mental changes” to the way she approaches finals—along with, at some point, tinkering with her racquet.

“I'm not going to open all of the cards!” Sabalenka joked in Miami.

“I just felt like there's few things in my game where players were trying to… I don't know, beat me through few things," she added.

“I felt like there is couple things that I could do in the racquet to feel more confident and feel more comfortable in those particular shots… So I adjusted the racquet and it really helped a lot.”

Read More: Sunshine Swing Style Report: Double the tournaments, double the fits

Judging by the results, the tweak appears to be paying off: Sabalenka has lost just one set across the Sunshine Swing since making the adjustment—against Rybakina in the Indian Wells final.

Up next, Sabalenka will face Hailey Baptiste. The 25-year-old American upset No. 19 Liudmila Samsonova, No. 9 Elina Svitolina, and, on Monday, No. 25 Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-4 to reach her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal.