Ahead of her first match at the 2026 Miami Open, Elena Rybakina opened up about her preparations for the tournament, where she is looking to secure the title after previously finishing as the runner-up twice. She arrives in Florida following a victory at the Australian Open and a runner-up finish at Indian Wells.
Elena Rybakina Discusses Miami Open Preparations and Title Ambitions
This year, the Miami Open began on March 17, 2026, and will run until March 29, 2024. The matches are being played on outdoor hard courts at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Rybakina’s best results at the tournament were reaching the finals in 2023 and 2024, where she lost to Petra Kvitová and Danielle Collins, respectively.
Speaking to the press ahead of the event, Rybakina said her experiences finishing as runner-up twice at the WTA 1000 hard-court tournament have given her more “motivation,” “hunger,” and “confidence” to perform at her best and claim the title this year.
“It gives more motivation and hunger to finally get to the title. So yeah, it’s gonna be a difficult tournament for sure, but I will try my best to get to the very end. It gives confidence, but as I always say, every week, every day is different,” Rybakina said.
The World No. 2 revealed that she hasn’t had a practice session in Florida yet, but she is still working hard and preparing for the tournament.
“I didn’t get a chance even to practice here yet, so wins are always giving you confidence, but you need to still work, continue, and prepare for each opponent. I always try to just go one day at a time, don’t think too much ahead, and just focus on the present in each match,” she continued.
Rybakina’s preparation comes amid a dense portion of the tennis calendar. She has been managing her workload across several high-profile events to stay fresh for the Miami heat.
Interview of Elena Rybakina at Miami, during media day on Wednesday.#MiamiOpen
📸: WTATV pic.twitter.com/wJe9u7J0FY— Sebastien G. (@sebsharfam2) March 19, 2026
Speaking about her decision to compete in four consecutive WTA 1000 tournaments, the Qatar Open, Dubai Tennis Championships, BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, and the Miami Open, Rybakina expressed that she wanted to maintain the winning momentum following her Australian Open victory.
The Kazakh mentioned that after competing in Doha, her body could not recover properly, which affected her performance in Dubai. She called the WTA schedule “brutal” but said she was pleased with her performance in Indian Wells. She said that she wants to make a “last push” in Miami and secure the title.
“I also got a bit sick, and I wanted to keep the momentum, so I went to play in Doha, and I think I played a couple of good matches there, and then unfortunately, I couldn’t recover and be 100% for the Dubai tournament. The schedule we have it’s quite brutal, but I’m happy that I managed to get to my best form in Indian Wells, an important one, and just a last push down here in Miami. Hopefully, I will do good here again, and after I will have more time to rest,” Rybakina added.
Rybakina is seeded third at the 2026 Miami Open and will begin her campaign in the second round after receiving a bye in the first round. In her opening match, she will face either Janice Tjen or Yulia Putintseva, with the winner advancing to take on a section of the draw that includes seeded players like Marta Kostyuk.
