Sakkari Regains Confidence: "Many Players Don’t Want to Face Me in the First Round of These Kinds of Tournaments"

Adrien Guyot

le 08/05/2025 à 08h58

2 min to read

Rome Sakkari

Maria Sakkari has advanced to the second round of the WTA 1000 in Rome. The Greek player, who has dropped to No. 81 in the world and came through qualifying in the Italian tournament, benefited from Belinda Bencic’s retirement at the end of the first set (6-2, ret.) to reach the second round.

She will face Magda Linette for a spot in the third round, just days after Sakkari defeated the Pole in Madrid. Following her wins against Chloé Paquet and Maja Chwalinska in qualifying, Sakkari is regaining confidence after reaching the round of 16 in Madrid.

There, she dominated Jasmine Paolini in straight sets before falling to Elina Svitolina. Shortly after securing her place in the second round, the former world No. 3 shared her thoughts on her recent form.

"If I want to return to the top 10, I have to take on challenges, and I have to accept the fact that I’ll have to go through qualifying. I was obviously disappointed that the tournament didn’t give me a wild card, but at the same time, I think playing qualifying was good for me to help accept the situation I’m in with my current ranking.

What I’m about to say might sound a bit arrogant, but many players don’t want to face me in the first round of these kinds of tournaments. Not just because I had to go through qualifying, but also because I’ve been playing well.

I have to say I’m feeling good about my game again. It’s the same with Bianca (Andreescu) and Naomi (Osaka)—they’re not seeded either.

I remember being in the top 5 and having to play Karolina (Muchova) in the first round at Roland Garros. I hated that; it was awful. Now I have to come through qualifying, but I’m sure the girls don’t want to face me this early either, especially on this surface where the matches are really demanding," Sakkari explained to *Tennis Up To Date*.