Greece, World No 3, 1000 title, the famous bun: Everything you always wanted to know about Maria Sakkari (but never had time to find out) – updated after early end to 2024 season
Maria Sakkari is a Greek tennis player who reached the Roland-Garros and US Open semi-finals in 2021. Here are answers to some common questions you may have about the Greek
Maria Sakkari (Imago/Panoramic)
Who is Maria Sakkari?
Maria Sakkari is a Greek tennis player. She was born on July 25, 1995, in Athens, Greece. She has won two career titles and been ranked as high as No 3.
What did Maria Sakkari do at US Open 2024?
Maria Sakkari entered the US Open 2024 main draw as No 9 seed in August but couldn’t go any further than the first round. Playing against Chinese Wang Yafan, she pulled out of the match after losing the first set 6-2 due to discomfort in her shoulder.
The shoulder injury later forced Sakkari to end her 2024 season in October as she couldn’t compete on the court since the New York loss.
What did Maria Sakkari do at Wimbledon 2024?
Maria Sakkari started the Wimbledon 2024 as No 9 seed in July. She defeated American McCartney Kessler 6-3, 6-1 in the first round and Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus 7-5, 6-3.
The Greek’s campaign in London ended with a 6-2, 6-3 loss to a resurgent Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, in the third round.
What did Maria Sakkari do at French Open 2024?
Maria Sakkari suffered a shock loss to local Varvara Gracheva in the first round of the French Open 2024 in May. Seeded sixth, she lost to Gracheva 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
WHAT DID MARIA SAKKARI DO ON CLAY IN 2024?
Maria Sakkari had a solid, if unspectacular clay-court season. She reached the semi-finals in Charleston, losing to the eventual champion, Danielle Collins. She then made the fourth round in both Madrid and Rome.
Maria Sakkari is a Greek tennis player. She was born on July 25, 1995, in Athens, Greece. She has won two career titles and been ranked as high as No 3.
What did Maria Sakkari do in Indian Wells in 2024?
Maria Sakkari made the final of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells in March 2024. She fell in the last match of the WTA 1000 event to top seed Iga Swiatek, who swept past her 6-4, 6-0 to claim her second title in the desert.
It was her first tournament with new coach David Witt, who has previously coached Jessica Pegula on the WTA Tour.
What was Maria Sakkari’s biggest title?
On September 23, 2023, Maria Sakkari won her maiden WTA 1000 title in Guadalajara, defeating Caroline Dolehide in the final. The 28-year-old Greek became the first Greek woman to ever win a 1000-level title. It was her second career overall, and her first title since the spring of 2019.
What happened to Sakkari at Grand Slams in 2023?
Maria Sakkari’s record in Grand Slams in 2023 was a shock. She reached the third round of the Australian Open, where she lost to Lin Zhu, but then lost in the first round of the three subsequent majors: to Karolina Muchova at Roland-Garros, to Marta Kostyuk at Wimbledon, then to Rebeka Masarova at the US Open.
What are Maria Sakkari’s best performances at Grand Slam events?
Maria Sakkari reached her first major semi-final at the 2021 Roland-Garros Championships, where she lost to Czech Barbora Krejcikova after holding a match point at 5-3 in the final set.
A few months later, she reached her second Grand Slam semi-final at the 2021 US Open, where she beat three top 10 seeds (No 4 Karolina Pliskova, No 6 Bianca Andreescu and No 10 Petra Kvitova) before going down to eventual champion Emma Raducanu.
What is Maria Sakkari’s career-high ranking?
Sakkari’s best ranking is No 3, which she first achieved in March 2022. She is the highest-ever ranked female Greek player in the Open Era.
Her current ranking and ranking history are available on her WTA Tour profile page.
How tall is Sakkari?
Maria Sakkari is 5ft 8in (1.72m) tall, according to her profile on the WTA Tour website.
Who is in Sakkari’s family?
Maria Sakkari’s parents are Konstantinos and Angeliki. Her mother played on the WTA Tour and achieved a Top 50 singles ranking. Sakkari’s brother Yannis studies at Boston University and she also has a sister Amanda.
Who is Maria Sakkari’s coach?
Sakkari was coached by Tom Hill between 2018 and 2024. The Englishman, who attended the Nick Bollettieri/IMG academy as a teenager, coached Danielle Collins before joining forces with Sakkari. Hill played collegiate tennis at Pepperdine University.
In February 2024, after a difficult start to the season during which Sakkari only managed one win in four matches, Hill announced that he and Sakkari would be parting ways.
The following week, Julien Cagnina, a player from Belgium with an ATP career-high ranking of world No 239, was with Sakkari in Dubai. It was reported by Greek media in March 2024 that Cagnina will remain Sakkari’s hitting partner while David Witt – formerly coach of Jessica Pegula – would become her coach.
Sakkari parted ways with Witt in June 2024 only after a few months of association.
Who are Sakkari’s tennis heroes?
As a child, Sakkari looked up to Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer.
What are Sakkari’s best results on the WTA Tour?
Sakkari won the WTA title in Rabat in 2019. She has reached ten finals in total, including at the 500-point tournament in Washington, DC in August of 2023 (losing to Coco Gauff).
Most recently, Sakkari reached the final of the 2024 BNP Paribas Open. It is her tenth WTA final and her fourth at the 1000 level, having won Guadalajara in 2023 and reached the final in Indian Wells the year before. Sakkari faced Iga Swiatek again in the final in what was a rematch of that 2022 final, with the Greek again losing in straight sets.
Sakkari scored a big win over Serena Williams at the Western & Southern Open in 2020 and also ended Naomi Osaka‘s 23-match winning streak at the Miami Open in 2021. Sakkari went on to reach the semi-finals in Miami, losing to eventual runner-up Bianca Andreescu.
How much prize money has Maria Sakkari won?
Sakkari has won more than $12.15 million in career prize money as of May 20, 2024. Her updated prize money earnings are listed on her WTA Tour profile page.
Have Maria Sakkari and fellow Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas played doubles together?
Sakkari and compatriot Stefanos Tsitsipas have played mixed doubles together while representing Greece at the Hopman Cup in 2019. The duo won two of their three mixed doubles matches at the event but did not reach the final. They are planning on playing in the Olympics together later this year.
Why is Sakkari famous for her hair?
Besides her game, Sakkari is also famous for her hair bun.
Is Maria Sakkari on social media?
Sakkari is on Twitter (where she has more than 63,500 followers) and on Instagram (more than 593,000 followers). On Facebook, she has more than 235,000 people following her.
