Sakkari: "I see how hard it is to return to the top 10"
Maria Sakkari continues her slide in the rankings. Still ranked 6th in the world last spring, the 29-year-old Greek player will drop out of the top 80 this Monday when the WTA rankings are updated. After failing to defend her points at Indian Wells, where she reached the final last year, Sakkari opened up to *The Second Serve* about her career.
Winner of the 2023 Guadalajara WTA 1000 and a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist, she hopes to return to her best level but also knows that climbing back up the rankings won’t be easy.
"I know I’ve been in a better position, but I’m happy to be healthy—that’s the most important thing. It took until I was 29 to have my first real injury (shoulder).
That’s a good thing, but on the other hand, I struggled to accept certain things after my comeback. My ranking dropped, so I have to work my way back up. I want to return to the top 10, especially because the draws are much tougher now, and since I’m not seeded, I could face players I’d rather avoid early on.
Either way, if you want to go far in a tournament, you have to face top players at some point. It’s been a tough period, but it was also really nice to take time off.
This kind of life is very hectic, so it was good to have a normal life for a while—not traveling every week, which was incredible. Obviously, my tennis since coming back hasn’t been at its best.
I had high hopes, but I quickly realized it would take time. These past few weeks, I’ve been feeling better, but I still need a bit more. After all, I’m healthy, I feel happy—that’s what matters most.
Being in this situation made me realize how many good things I’ve done in my career, especially the consistency I showed. Of course, even though I’ve had ups and downs over the last three seasons, just breaking into the top 10 was huge.
That’s when you really see how much tennis has improved these days, how tough those early rounds always are. Now, I see how hard it is to get back to the top 10—I realize just how well I played all those years to stay up there," Sakkari said.
