Diana Shnaider defeated Tereza Valentova 7–6, 7–6 in the first round of the Miami Masters 1000 on hard court on 20 March 2026. Despite being a marginal favourite at 1.88 odds, Shnaider was pushed to two tiebreaks by Valentova, who offered stubborn resistance throughout. The Russian secured both sets via tiebreak play, demonstrating resilience rather than dominance in what proved a competitive opening-round encounter. Shnaider advances to the second round, though the narrow margin suggests she will need to sharpen her execution against stronger opposition.