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Maria Sakkari ( gr, Μαρία Σάκκαρη, ; born 25 July 1995) is a Greek professional
Her first two attempts to debut on the WTA Tour were unsuccessful. At the
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 3 by the Women's Tennis Association
The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women and was founded to create a better future for women's tenni ...
(WTA), which she first achieved on 21 March 2022, making her the highest-ranked Greek player in history alongside Stefanos Tsitsipas
Stefanos Tsitsipas ( gr, Στέφανος Τσιτσιπάς, ; born 12 August 1998) is a Greek professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on 9 ...
. Her career-best doubles ranking
A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second.
In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of o ...
is world No. 169, achieved on 9 September 2019.
Sakkari has won one singles title on the WTA Tour
The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour.
WTA Tour tourna ...
at the 2019 Morocco Open, where she defeated Johanna Konta
Johanna Konta (born 17 May 1991) is a British former professional tennis player, having represented Australia until 2012. She won four singles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 11 singles and four doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. The ...
in the final. She was also a semifinalist at the 2017 Wuhan Open, where she defeated Caroline Wozniacki
Caroline Wozniacki (; born 11 July 1990) is a Danish former professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 1 in singles for a total of 71 weeks, including at the end of 2010 and 2011. She achieved the top ranking for the first time on 11 ...
en route, her first top-10 win. In 2019, she reached another Premier 5 semifinal at the Italian Open where she defeated, among other players, Petra Kvitová
Petra Kvitová, OLY ( , ; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 29 career singles titles, including two major titles at Wimbledon in 2011 and i ...
. In 2020, Sakkari reached the fourth round at both the Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
and US Open. In 2021, she has reached the semifinals at the French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
and the 2021 US Open making her the first woman from Greece to reach a Grand Slam semifinal.
Sakkari is known for her aggressive, all-court style of play, centered around her strong serve and powerful groundstrokes. She served the sixth most aces of any WTA player in 2020, with 144 aces served in 31 matches.
Early and personal life
Sakkari was born on 25 July 1995 to mother Angelikí Kanellopoúlou, a former top-50 tennis player, and father Konstantinos Sakkaris, inAthens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
. She has two siblings: brother Yannis and sister Amanda. Her grandfather Dimitris Kanellopoulos was also professional tennis player. She was introduced to tennis by her parents at age 6 and moved to Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
at age 18 in order to train. She has said that her favorite surfaces are hard and clay and that her favorite shot is the serve. Growing up, her favourite players were Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...
, Roger Federer
Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
and Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
. Sakkari currently resides in Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...
.
Professional career
2015–16: WTA debut, Grand Slam debut, top 100
Her first two attempts to debut on the WTA Tour were unsuccessful. At the Rio Open
The Rio Open, also known as the ''Rio Open presented by Claro'' for sponsorship reasons, is a tennis event on the ATP Tour and former WTA International Tournaments event. The tournament is played on outdoor clay courts at the Jockey Club Brasilei ...
, she lost in the first round of qualifying to María Irigoyen
María Irigoyen (born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine former tennis player.
On 13 July 2015, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 147. On 13 June 2016, she peaked at No. 47 in the WTA doubles rankings.
In her career, Irigoyen won t ...
, and later lost in the final stage of qualifying at Bucharest Open to Daria Kasatkina
Daria Sergeyevna Kasatkina (born 7 May 1997) is a Russian professional tennis player. She is currently the Russian No. 1 player in singles. She made her top-ten debut in the WTA rankings towards the end of the 2018 season and has been ranked ...
. However, on her third attempt, she not only made her debut on WTA Tour, but it was at a major, as she qualified for the US Open. In the qualifying, she beat Anastasija Sevastova
Anastasija Sevastova (born 13 April 1990) is an inactive professional tennis player from Latvia. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 in October 2018, after reaching her first Premier Mandatory final at the China Open. She ...
, An-Sophie Mestach
An-Sophie Mestach (born 7 March 1994) is a Belgian retired tennis player.
In her career, Mestach won two doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as six singles titles and eight doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 14 September 2015, she reac ...
and Petra Martić
Petra Martić (; born 19 January 1991) is a Croatian professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 14, achieved in January 2020. Martić has won two singles titles on the WTA Tour, one singles and one doubles tou ...
, but then lost in the first round of the main draw to Wang Qiang. After the US Open, Sakkari entered the top 200 for the first time, reaching a ranking of 185. By the end of the year, she only played on the ITF Circuit and on the WTA Challenger Tour
WTA 125 tournaments are an international series of professional women's tennis tournaments organized by the Women's Tennis Association since 2012.
In the past (2012–2015) sometimes called the WTA Challenger seriesCarlsbad Classic. Sakkari ended the year ranked 188.
Sakkari started the 2016 season with no-passing qualification at
Brisbane International
The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA Premier tournament of the WTA Tour and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 seri ...
and Hobart International
The Hobart International is a women's professional tennis tournament held at the Hobart International Tennis Centre in Hobart, Australia. Held since 1994, it forms a part of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour and is classed as an Interna ...
. At the Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, she first qualified, and then, in the first round of main draw, achieved a win against Wang Yafan
Wang Yafan (; ; born 30 April 1994) is a Chinese tennis player.
In her career, she has won one singles title and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as four doubles titles on WTA 125 tournaments, plus eleven singles and six doubles ...
. That win was her first at the WTA Tour, as well as her first Grand Slam match win. In the second round, she lost to Carla Suárez Navarro
Carla Suárez Navarro (; born 3 September 1988, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A former top 10 singles player, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 6 on 29 February 2016, and a be ...
. At the Mexican Open in Acapulco, she was eliminated in the first round by Johanna Larsson
Johanna Larsson (; born 17 August 1988) is a Swedish former tennis player. She won two singles and 14 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 13 singles and 17 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. Her career-high WTA rankings are ...
. At the Indian Wells Open
The Indian Wells Masters, also known as the Indian Wells Open and BNP Paribas Open is an annual tennis tournament usually held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. The owner is La ...
, she attempted to qualify for her first Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 tournament in the main draw, but failed in the first round of qualification. In Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, she succeeded to qualify, but lost in the first round of the main draw to Irina-Camelia Begu.
Her second win on the WTA Tour was at the Istanbul Cup, where she defeated top seed Anna Karolína Schmiedlová
Anna Karolína Schmiedlová (; born 13 September 1994) is a Slovak tennis player.
She has won three singles titles on the WTA Tour, one singles title on the WTA Challenger Tour as well as 12 singles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 12 October 201 ...
. After beating Hsieh Su-wei
Hsieh Su-wei ( ;''Xiè 謝淑薇Shūwēi'' in Chinese mainland. Taiwanese Mandarin: ; in Standard Mandarin of Chinese mainland. born 4 January 1986) is an inactive Taiwanese professional tennis player. She has won three singles titles and 30 ...
in the second round, she reached her first WTA Tour quarterfinal, where she lost to Danka Kovinić
Danka Kovinić ( cnr, Данка Ковинић; born 18 November 1994) is a Montenegrin professional tennis player.
On 22 February 2016, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 46, and on 20 June 2016, she peaked at No. 67 in th ...
. In Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, she failed to reach the main draw, losing to Patricia Maria Țig in the final stage of qualifying. Competing the qualifying at the 2016 French Open, she missed the chance to play in the main draw, losing her first match to Grace Min
Grace Min (born May 6, 1994) is an American tennis player who won the 2011 US Open girls' singles title.
Sakkari got through qualifying for
As it regards the clay-court season, she started playing at
Sakkari made her first ever Grand Slam semifinal at the
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
and won her first match at that tournament, defeating Zheng Saisai
Zheng Saisai or Zheng Sai-Sai (; born February 5, 1994) is a Chinese tennis player. She won one WTA singles title (at the Premier level 2019 Silicon Valley Classic), five WTA doubles titles, and reached the final of the 2019 French Open in dou ...
, but then lost in the second round to five-time former Wimbledon champion, Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is ...
. After this result, on July 11, 2016, she reached 97 in the rankings.
In Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, she lost in the qualifying to Zheng. At the US Open, she only reached the first round, where Duan Yingying
Duan Yingying (; born 3 July 1989) is a Chinese former professional tennis player.
In her career, she won one singles title and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, and two WTA Challenger doubles titles, as well as eleven singles and three d ...
defeated her, but it was her first Grand-Slam appearance in the main draw without need to play in qualifying. At the China Open, she lost in the final stage of qualifying to Wang Yafan.
2017: First Premier 5 semifinal and top-ten win, top 50 debut
In 2017, she reached the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time at theAustralian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, where she lost in the third round to Mirjana Lučić-Baroni
Mirjana Lučić-Baroni (; ; born 9 March 1982) is a Croatian former professional tennis player. She enjoyed a meteoric rise on the WTA Tour in the late 1990s, during which she set several "youngest-ever" records. She captured the women's doubles ...
. In both Indian Wells and Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, she failed in qualifying. She started the clay-court season at Charleston Open
The Credit One Charleston Open, formerly known as the Volvo Car Open and the Family Circle Cup, is a WTA Tour-affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1973. It is the oldest professional all-women's tournament in ...
, where she got to the second round, where she lost to Jeļena Ostapenko
Jeļena Ostapenko (born 8 June 1997), also known as Aļona Ostapenko, is a Latvian professional tennis player. She has career-high WTA rankings of world No. 5 in singles, achieved on 19 March 2018, and world No. 9 in doubles, reached on 22 Augus ...
. In Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
and Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, Sakkari lost in the qualifying. At the French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, she debuted in the main draw, where she lost in the first round to Carla Suárez Navarro.
Grass-court season went better for Sakkari, reaching the quarterfinals at Nottingham Open
The Nottingham Open was originally known as the Nottingham Championships or Nottingham Lawn Tennis Tournament (1887-1967), is a tennis tournament for men and women held in Nottingham, United Kingdom, played on outdoor grass courts at the Nottingh ...
and her first third round at Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
, where Johanna Konta
Johanna Konta (born 17 May 1991) is a British former professional tennis player, having represented Australia until 2012. She won four singles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 11 singles and four doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. The ...
stopped her from going into round of 16.
At the US Open, she reached the same stage as she did at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, making the third round for the third time. In the first two rounds, she defeated Kiki Bertens
Kiki Bertens (; born 10 December 1991) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA singles ranking was world No. 4, which she reached on 13 May 2019, becoming the highest ranked Dutch female player ever.
Her career-high do ...
and Arina Rodionova
Arina Ivanovna Rodionova (russian: Арина Ивановна Родионова; born 15 December 1989) is a Russian-born Australian tennis player.
Rodionova has won nine singles and 42 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. In 2007, ...
, but was eliminated by Venus Williams in the third round. She reached her first WTA Tour semifinal at the Wuhan Open
The Wuhan Open (currently sponsored by Dongfeng Motor) is a tennis tournament held in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China and organized for female professional tennis players. It is one of the WTA 1000 tournaments on the WTA Tour and made its debut in t ...
by beating Caroline Wozniacki
Caroline Wozniacki (; born 11 July 1990) is a Danish former professional tennis player. She was ranked world No. 1 in singles for a total of 71 weeks, including at the end of 2010 and 2011. She achieved the top ranking for the first time on 11 ...
, Elena Vesnina
Elena Sergeyevna Vesnina (born 1 August 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player and a former world No. 1 in doubles.
She is a four-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2013 French Open, 2014 US Open, and 2017 Wimbledon Cha ...
and Alizé Cornet
Alizé Cornet (; born 22 January 1990) is a French professional tennis player. Cornet has won six singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as three singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, ITF Circu ...
, but then missed her chance to reach her first WTA final, losing to Caroline Garcia
Caroline Garcia (, born 16 October 1993) is a French professional tennis player. She has been ranked in the top 5 in both singles at world No. 4 and in doubles at world No. 2. Garcia is the 2022 WTA Finals singles champion.
She is also a two-ti ...
. This success propelled her into the top 50 of the WTA rankings
The WTA rankings are the ratings defined by the Women's Tennis Association, introduced in November 1975.
Iga Świątek is the current world No. 1.
Ranking method
The WTA rankings are based on a rolling 52-week, cumulative system. A play ...
, reaching No. 50, on 2 October 2017. Her last tournament of the season was the Tianjin Open
The Tianjin Open is an International-level WTA tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket th ...
, where Christina McHale
Christina Marietta McHale (born May 11, 1992) is an American former professional tennis player. Her highest-ever WTA rankings were No. 24 in singles and No. 35 in doubles.
Known for an aggressive baseline game, McHale was recognized by ''The New ...
eliminated her in the second round.
2018: First WTA final and top 30 debut
Sakkari started 2018 season with four first-round losses, againstDanka Kovinić
Danka Kovinić ( cnr, Данка Ковинић; born 18 November 1994) is a Montenegrin professional tennis player.
On 22 February 2016, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 46, and on 20 June 2016, she peaked at No. 67 in th ...
in the Shenzhen
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
, Kateřina Siniaková
Kateřina Siniaková (; ; born 10 May 1996) is a Czech professional tennis player who is the current world No. 1 in doubles.
She is a six-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2018 and 2021 French Opens, 2018 and 2022 Wimbled ...
at the Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, Julia Görges
Julia Görges (born 2 November 1988) is a German former professional tennis player. A former top-ten singles player, she was ranked as high as No. 9 in the world on 20 August 2018, and was ranked inside the top 15 in doubles, peaking at world No ...
in the St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, and Sorana Cîrstea
Sorana Mihaela Cîrstea (; born 7 April 1990) is a Romanian professional tennis player. In singles, she achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 21 on 12 August 2013. In doubles, her career-high ranking is No. 35, which she reached on 9 March ...
in the oDoha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
. In Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
, she reached the final stage of qualification, but did not make it to the main draw, losing to Samantha Stosur
Samantha Jane Stosur ( ; born 30 March 1984) is an Australian professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in doubles, a ranking which she first achieved on 6 February 2006 and held for 61 consecutive weeks. Also a former top ten s ...
. In Acapulco
Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...
, she recorded her first win of the 2018 season, defeating Lara Arruabarrena
Lara Arruabarrena Vecino (; born 20 March 1992) is a former professional tennis player from Spain. On 3 July 2017, she reached a career-high WTA singles ranking of 52, and her best doubles ranking is world No. 28, set on 22 February 2016. Arr ...
in the first round, but lost against Stefanie Vögele
Stefanie Vögele (born 10 March 1990) is a former professional Swiss tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 42 on 11 November 2013. Her highest WTA ranking in doubles is 100, which she reached on 5 January 2015. O ...
in the second.
At Indian Wells, Sakkari managed to beat Donna Vekić
Donna Vekić (; born 28 June 1996) is a Croatian professional tennis player and businesswoman. She has won three singles titles on the WTA Tour – at the 2014 Malaysian Open, at the 2017 Nottingham Open, and the 2021 Courmayeur Ladies Open. ...
, 16th seed Ashleigh Barty
Ashleigh is the feminine form of the Old English name Ashley (given name), Ashley, which means "dweller near the ash tree forest". It is most common in the United States and United Kingdom.
Notable people
B
*Ashleigh Ball (born 1983), Canadian ...
and 17th seed CoCo Vandeweghe
Colleen "CoCo" Vandeweghe ( ) (born Colleen Mullarkey; December 6, 1991) is an American professional tennis player. A former Junior US Open champion and top 10 singles player, she has also won two WTA titles, both at the Rosmalen Grass Court C ...
, respectively. She lost in the fourth round to the eventual champion, Naomi Osaka
is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and is the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles. Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam singles champio ...
. At the Miami Open, she defeated Aleksandra Krunić
Aleksandra Krunić ( sr-Cyrl, Александра Крунић; born 15 March 1993) is a Serbian professional tennis player. She has won one singles title and six doubles titles on the WTA Tour along with one singles title on WTA 125 tournament ...
and 28th seed Anett Kontaveit
Anett Kontaveit (; born 24 December 1995) is an Estonian professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 2 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), which she first achieved on 6 June 2022, making her the highest-ranked Eston ...
, and reached the third round where she lost to Monica Puig
Monica Puig Marchán, (born September 27, 1993) is a Puerto Rican former professional tennis player. She is the first Puerto Rican in history to win a gold medal at the Olympics while representing Puerto Rico, having done so in 2016 at the ...
.
Sakkari started her clay-court season by reaching her first semifinal in 2018 in (Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
) where she beat Çağla Büyükakçay
Çağla Büyükakçay (; born 28 September 1989) is a Turkish professional tennis player.
She has won 11 singles and 15 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. In September 2016, she reached her highest singles ranking of world No. 6 ...
, Aleksandra Krunić
Aleksandra Krunić ( sr-Cyrl, Александра Крунић; born 15 March 1993) is a Serbian professional tennis player. She has won one singles title and six doubles titles on the WTA Tour along with one singles title on WTA 125 tournament ...
and Arantxa Rus
Arantxa Rus (; born 13 December 1990) is a Dutch tennis player. In 2008, she won the girl's singles title at the 2008 Australian Open – Girls' singles, Australian Open, defeating Jessica Moore (tennis), Jessica Moore from Australia in the final ...
, respectively, before losing to Polona Hercog
Polona Hercog (, born 20 January 1991) is a Slovenian professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA rankings are 35 in singles and 56 in doubles. She has won five titles on the WTA Tour, three in singles and two in doubles. Hercog also enjoye ...
. She then lost in the first round of the Madrid Open There are three sporting events known as the Madrid Open:
* Madrid Open (golf)
The Madrid Open was an annual men's golf tournament which was held in and around the Spanish capital Madrid from 1968 to 2007, apart from a seven-year gap from 1994 to ...
to Kiki Bertens
Kiki Bertens (; born 10 December 1991) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA singles ranking was world No. 4, which she reached on 13 May 2019, becoming the highest ranked Dutch female player ever.
Her career-high do ...
. Her next tournament was the Italian Open, where she avenged her Madrid exit by beating Bertens in the first round, and then had her second win against a top-ten player by beating Karolína Plíšková
Karolína Hrdličková ( née Plíšková; ; born 21 March 1992) is a Czech professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in singles, reaching the top of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings on 17 July 2017 and holding the pos ...
. She lost in the third round to Angelique Kerber
Angelique Kerber (; born 18 January 1988) is a German professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 1, for a total of 34 weeks, and won three major titles at the 2016 Australian Open, the 2016 US Open, and the 2018 Wim ...
. At the French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, she reached the third round, after defeating Mandy Minella
Mandy Minella (born 22 November 1985) is a former professional tennis player from Luxembourg. Having made her debut on the WTA Tour in 2001, she peaked at No. 66 in the WTA singles rankings in September 2012, and No. 47 in doubles in April 2013 ...
and Carla Suárez Navarro
Carla Suárez Navarro (; born 3 September 1988, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A former top 10 singles player, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 6 on 29 February 2016, and a be ...
and then she completed third rounds at all Grand Slam tournaments. In the third round, she lost to 14th seed Daria Kasatkina
Daria Sergeyevna Kasatkina (born 7 May 1997) is a Russian professional tennis player. She is currently the Russian No. 1 player in singles. She made her top-ten debut in the WTA rankings towards the end of the 2018 season and has been ranked ...
.
Sakkari lost all of her matches at grass-court season. She was defeated by Julia Görges
Julia Görges (born 2 November 1988) is a German former professional tennis player. A former top-ten singles player, she was ranked as high as No. 9 in the world on 20 August 2018, and was ranked inside the top 15 in doubles, peaking at world No ...
at the Birmingham Classic, Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova (born 27 June 1985) is a Russian inactive professional tennis player. She is a two-time major singles champion, winning the 2004 US Open and 2009 French Open, and finishing runner-up at two other majors. I ...
at the Eastbourne International
The Eastbourne International is a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour and the ATP Tour held at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, United Kingdom. Held since 1974, it is classified as a WTA 500 series on the WTA Tour and an ATP Tour ...
, and by Sofia Kenin
Sofia Anna "Sonya" Kenin (born November 14, 1998) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) of No. 4 in the world, which she achieved on March 9, 2020. She was the 2020 WTA ...
at Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
.
The US hardcourt series started well for Sakkari, reaching her first WTA final at the San Jose Classic, where she beat Christina McHale
Christina Marietta McHale (born May 11, 1992) is an American former professional tennis player. Her highest-ever WTA rankings were No. 24 in singles and No. 35 in doubles.
Known for an aggressive baseline game, McHale was recognized by ''The New ...
, Tímea Babos
Tímea Babos (; born 10 May 1993) is a Hungarian professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles.
She is a four-time Grand Slam champion in women's doubles, having won the 2018 and 2020 Australian Opens, as well as the Fre ...
, third seed Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is ...
, and Danielle Collins
Danielle Rose Collins (born December 13, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She has reached career-high WTA rankings of No. 7 in singles and world No. 86 in doubles. Collins has won two WTA Tour singles titles, at the 2021 Palerm ...
before she lost to Mihaela Buzărnescu
Mihaela Buzărnescu (born 4 May 1988) is a Romanian professional tennis player.
She has a career-high WTA singles ranking of No. 20, achieved on 6 August 2018. Her best doubles ranking of world No. 24, she reached on 22 October 2018. She has ...
in the final. On 6 August, she reached a new career-high ranking of No. 31. After that result, she was not successful in the rest of the US Series, reaching only first rounds at the Rogers Cup
The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
and Connecticut Open where she lost to Daria Kasatkina
Daria Sergeyevna Kasatkina (born 7 May 1997) is a Russian professional tennis player. She is currently the Russian No. 1 player in singles. She made her top-ten debut in the WTA rankings towards the end of the 2018 season and has been ranked ...
and Zarina Diyas
Zarina Diyas ( kk, Зари́на Ди́ас; born 18 October 1993) is a Kazakh professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as No. 31 in the world by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Diyas has won one WTA singles title, at the ...
, respectively, as well as only second rounds at the Cincinnati Open
The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
and US Open. At Cincinnati, she beat Naomi Osaka in the first round and avenged her loss in Indian Wells earlier that year. However, in the second round, Anett Kontaveit knocked her out of the tournament. When the US Open started, she debuted in the top 30. At the US Open, she was seeded for the first time at any Grand Slam championship (No. 32), and she had to play against two Americans in the first two rounds, winning against Asia Muhammad
Asia Muhammad (born April 4, 1991) is an American professional tennis player.
A doubles specialist, Muhammad has won seven doubles titles on the WTA Tour, four doubles titles on WTA Challenger Tour as well as 13 singles and 35 doubles titles on ...
, but then lost to Sofia Kenin
Sofia Anna "Sonya" Kenin (born November 14, 1998) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) of No. 4 in the world, which she achieved on March 9, 2020. She was the 2020 WTA ...
.
At the Korea Open, Sakkari made another WTA semifinal, defeating Anna Karolína Schmiedlová
Anna Karolína Schmiedlová (; born 13 September 1994) is a Slovak tennis player.
She has won three singles titles on the WTA Tour, one singles title on the WTA Challenger Tour as well as 12 singles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 12 October 201 ...
, Margarita Gasparyan
Margarita Melikovna Betova (née Gasparyan; rus, Маргари́та Ме́ликовна Гаспаря́н, , mərɡɐˈrʲitə ɡəspɐˈrʲan, Ru-Margarita Gasparyan.ogg, hy, Մարգարիտա Մելիքի Գասպարյան; born 1 Sept ...
and Irina-Camelia Begu, respectively, in first three rounds, before she was defeated by Kiki Bertens
Kiki Bertens (; born 10 December 1991) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA singles ranking was world No. 4, which she reached on 13 May 2019, becoming the highest ranked Dutch female player ever.
Her career-high do ...
in the semifinal. At both the Wuhan Open
The Wuhan Open (currently sponsored by Dongfeng Motor) is a tennis tournament held in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China and organized for female professional tennis players. It is one of the WTA 1000 tournaments on the WTA Tour and made its debut in t ...
and China Open, Sakkari failed in the first rounds, losing to Wang Qiang and Donna Vekić
Donna Vekić (; born 28 June 1996) is a Croatian professional tennis player and businesswoman. She has won three singles titles on the WTA Tour – at the 2014 Malaysian Open, at the 2017 Nottingham Open, and the 2021 Courmayeur Ladies Open. ...
, respectively. In her last two tournaments in 2018, Tianjin Open
The Tianjin Open is an International-level WTA tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket th ...
and Luxembourg Open
Luxembourg Open,
Tennis tournaments in Luxembourg
Indoor tennis tournaments
Hard court tennis tournaments
WTA Tour
Kockelscheuer
Recurring sporting events established in 1991
Autumn events in Luxembourg
1991 establishments in Luxembourg ...
, Sakkari failed in the first round. She finished the year inside the top 50, reaching No. 41.
2019: First WTA title, Rome semifinalist, five top 10 wins
Sakkari started year with a first-round loss atHobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
, where she was defeated by Magda Linette
Magda Linette (born 12 February 1992) is a Polish professional tennis player. Having made her tour debut in 2009, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 33 in February 2020. Linette has reached five finals on the WTA Tour, winning ...
. Sakkari reached the third round at the Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, defeating Jeļena Ostapenko and Astra Sharma
Astra Sharma (born 11 September 1995) is a Singaporean-born Australian professional tennis player. She has career-high WTA rankings of 84 in singles and world No. 91 in doubles. Sharma has won one singles title and three doubles titles on the W ...
, before she was eliminated by Ashleigh Barty. At next three tournaments, Sakkari was eliminated in the first rounds: at St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
by Julia Görges, at the Mexican Open by Monica Puig, and at Indian Wells by Christina McHale. At the Miami Open, she defeated Olga Danilović
Olga Danilović ( sr-cyr, Олга Даниловић, ; born 23 January 2001) is a Serbian tennis player.
In July 2018, Danilović won her first WTA Tour singles title in Moscow by beating Anastasia Potapova in the final. She also won two WTA ...
in the first round, but lost to No. 3, Petra Kvitová
Petra Kvitová, OLY ( , ; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 29 career singles titles, including two major titles at Wimbledon in 2011 and i ...
, in the second.
As it regards the clay-court season, she started playing at Charleston Open
The Credit One Charleston Open, formerly known as the Volvo Car Open and the Family Circle Cup, is a WTA Tour-affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1973. It is the oldest professional all-women's tournament in ...
, where she defeated Conny Perrin
Conny Perrin (born 25 December 1990) is a Swiss tennis player.
Perrin has won 13 singles titles and 23 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit
The ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, previously known as the ITF Women's Circuit, is a series of pro ...
, Andrea Petkovic
Andrea Petkovic (, ; born 9 September 1987) is a German former professional tennis player. Born in Tuzla, SFR Yugoslavia, to Serbian father Zoran and Bosniak mother Amira, she moved to Germany at six months old and turned professional in 2006 a ...
and second seed Kiki Bertens, respectively. Then she reached quarterfinal where she was defeated by fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki. At İstanbul Cup
The İstanbul Cup is a WTA tennis tournament held in Istanbul, Turkey, organised for professional female tennis players. It is classified as an International-level tournament on the WTA Tour. Held annually since May 2005, it was played on outdoo ...
, she failed in first round from Veronika Kudermetova
Veronika Eduardovna Kudermetova; ; tt-Cyrl, Вероника Эдуард кызы Кадыйрмәтова, translit=Veronika Edward qızı Qadıyrmätova. (born 24 April 1997) is a Russian professional tennis player.
She has a career-high si ...
. The Morocco Open
The Morocco Open or Rabat Grand Prix (for sponsorship reasons called the Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem), is a women's professional tennis tournament currently held in Rabat, Morocco. This WTA Tour event is classified as an Internati ...
was special for Sakkari, because it has been so far her only tournament where she succeeded to win title. On her road to the final, she defeated Olga Danilović, Isabella Shinikova
Isabella Shinikova ( bg, Изабелла Шиникова) (born 25 October 1991) is a Bulgarian tennis player.
On 20 February 2017, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 133. On 20 May 2019, she peaked at No. 159 in the WTA do ...
, Elise Mertens
Elise Mertens (; born 17 November 1995) is a Belgian professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in doubles.
Mertens is a three-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2019 US Open and 2021 Australian Open partnering ...
, Alison Van Uytvanck
Alison Van Uytvanck (; born 26 March 1994) is a Belgian professional tennis player.
Van Uytvanck has won five singles and two doubles WTA Tour titles and three Challenger Tour singles titles, as well as 12 singles and two doubles titles on th ...
, and then, in the final, she defeated Johanna Konta
Johanna Konta (born 17 May 1991) is a British former professional tennis player, having represented Australia until 2012. She won four singles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 11 singles and four doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. The ...
. After winning the title, she climbed from 51 to place 39 in the WTA ranking
The WTA rankings are the Sports rating system, ratings defined by the Women's Tennis Association, introduced in November 1975.
Iga Świątek is the current world No. 1.
Ranking method
The WTA rankings are based on a rolling 52-week, cumu ...
s. While in Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
she did not have much success, reaching only first round, in Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
she firstly passed qualification and then she reached her second career-Premier-5 semifinal, but there lost to the eventual champion Karolína Plíšková. At the French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, she was seeded for the first time there at No. 29, and she reached second round, winning against Anna Tatishvili
Anna Tatishvili ( ka, ანა ტატიშვილი, tr, ; born February 3, 1990) is a Georgian- American former professional tennis player.
In her career, Tatishvili won eleven singles and eight doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circui ...
in first round, but lost in second round to Kateřina Siniaková.
On grass court, first she got to the quarterfinal of the Nottingham Open
The Nottingham Open was originally known as the Nottingham Championships or Nottingham Lawn Tennis Tournament (1887-1967), is a tennis tournament for men and women held in Nottingham, United Kingdom, played on outdoor grass courts at the Nottingh ...
, where she lost to Jennifer Brady
Jennifer Elizabeth Brady (born April 12, 1995) is an inactive American professional tennis player. She reached a career-high singles WTA ranking of world No. 13 on 22 February 2021, and a career-high doubles ranking of 44 on 19 August 2019. Brad ...
. Then at the Birmingham Classic, she was eliminated in the first round by Naomi Osaka. In Eastbourne, she beat Jessica Pegula
Jessica Pegula (born February 24, 1994) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA rankings in singles and doubles of world No. 3, both achieved on October 24, 2022. She has won two singles titles and five doubles title ...
, but Johanna Konta stopped her from going further than round one. At Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
, she reached her second third round there, beating Bernarda Pera
Bernarda Pera ( ; ; born 3 December 1994) is a Croatian-born American tennis player. Pera has won two singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour, along with nine singles and eight doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. She achieved career-h ...
and Marie Bouzková
Marie Bouzková (, born 21 July 1998) is a Czech professional tennis player. She attained her career-high WTA singles ranking of No. 26 on 31 October 2022. On 9 May 2022, she peaked at No. 24 in the WTA doubles rankings. So far, she has won one ...
, but then lost to Elina Svitolina
Elina Mykhailivna Svitolina ( uk, Еліна Михайлівна Світоліна, ; born 12 September 1994) is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. She reached career-high rankings of world No. 3 in singles and 108 in doubles. Svitolina ...
in the third round.
In San Jose, she played her second semifinal there, winning against top-seeded Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinal, but this time she did not make it to the final, losing in her semifinal match to Zheng Saisai. At Rogers Cup
The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
, she lost to Alison Riske
Alison Riske-Amritraj (née Riske; born July 3, 1990) is an American professional tennis player. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 in November 2019 and won her first WTA Tour title in October 2014 at the Tianjin Open.
...
in the first round. In Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, she reached a new Premier-5 quarterfinal, before she lost to world No. 1, Ashleigh Barty, in three sets. At the US Open, she lost in third round, again to Barty.
Back in Europe, she only played one tournament. She played at Kremlin Cup
The Kremlin Cup (russian: Кубок Кремля) is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts, which was suspended in 2022. It was part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour and was a Premier Tournament on the WTA ...
, where in first round, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Anastasia Sergeyevna "Nastia" Pavlyuchenkova (russian: Анастаси́я "Настя" Серге́евна Павлюче́нкова; born 3 July 1991) is an inactive Russian professional tennis player. A junior prodigy, Pavlyuchenkova won ...
beat her in three sets. For the first time in Sakkari's career, she qualified for some year-end championships. At WTA Elite Trophy
The WTA Elite Trophy is the second-tier year-end professional women's tennis tournament on the WTA Tour. It is the successor event of the different format WTA Tournament of Champions, which took place from 2009–14.
The Elite Trophy takes place ...
, she lost both matches in her group, to Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Siarhiejeŭna Sabalenka ( be, Арына Сяргееўна Сабаленка; russian: Арина Сергеевна Соболенко, ''Arina Sergeyevna Sobolenko'', born 5 May 1998) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She ha ...
.
2020: Solid results, top 20 debut, win over Serena Williams
Sakkari was successful at the first Grand Slam tournament of year, theAustralian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, where she reached her first Grand Slam round of 16. Victories over Margarita Gasparyan
Margarita Melikovna Betova (née Gasparyan; rus, Маргари́та Ме́ликовна Гаспаря́н, , mərɡɐˈrʲitə ɡəspɐˈrʲan, Ru-Margarita Gasparyan.ogg, hy, Մարգարիտա Մելիքի Գասպարյան; born 1 Sept ...
(first round), Nao Hibino
is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as No. 56 in singles and No. 43 in doubles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Hibino has won two singles and two doubles titles on the WTA Tour. Along with that, she ...
(second) and No. 11 Madison Keys
Madison Keys (born February 17, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 7 by the Women's Tennis Association
The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's ...
(third) propelled her to the round of 16, where she was defeated by Petra Kvitová
Petra Kvitová, OLY ( , ; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 29 career singles titles, including two major titles at Wimbledon in 2011 and i ...
in three sets. At her next tournament, she continued this success. She played at the St. Petersburg Trophy, where she reached her new Premier semifinal. She won against Vitalia Diatchenko
Vitalia Anatolyevna Diatchenko ( rus, Виталия Анатольевна Дьяченко, , vʲɪˈtalʲɪjə dʲjɪˈtɕenkə, Ru-Vitalia_Diatchenko.ogg; born 2 August 1990) is a Russian professional tennis player. Her career-high singles ...
and Alizé Cornet in first two-rounds, and then in the quarterfinal, she made her new top-10 win, defeating No. 5 Belinda Bencic
Belinda Bencic ( sk, Belinda Benčičová, ; born 10 March 1997) is a Swiss professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of No. 4 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) which she achieved in February 2020. Bencic has won six singl ...
, before new rising star, Elena Rybakina
Elena Andreyevna Rybakina (born 17 June 1999) is a Kazakhstani professional tennis player. She is the reigning champion at Wimbledon and the first Kazakhstani player to win a title at a major. She is also the first to be ranked in the world's to ...
, stopped her from reaching the final. In Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
, she did not do well, losing in the first round to seventh seed Aryna Sabalenka. In Doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
, she did much better, winning against Julia Görges and Tereza Martincová
Tereza Martincová (; born 24 October 1994) is a Czech tennis player.
Martincová has won one doubles title on the WTA Tour and four singles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 14 February 2022, she reached her best WTA singles ranking of world ...
in first two rounds, but again, Aryna Sabalenka was too strong for her. After the comeback of the WTA Tour, after COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
outbreak, Sakkari first played at Palermo International, where she was eliminated in first round from Kristýna Plíšková
Kristýna Plíšková (; born 21 March 1992) is an inactive Czech professional tennis player. Plíšková has won one singles and four doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as nine singles and eight doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 31 Ju ...
. At the Cincinnati Open
The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
, Sakkari made another quarterfinal. In round one, she defeated young American player Coco Gauff
Cori Dionne "Coco" Gauff (born March 13, 2004) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of world No. 4 in singles, reached on October 24, 2022, and world No. 1 in doubles, achieved on August 15, 2022. Gauff won h ...
, in second round Yulia Putintseva
Yulia Antonovna Putintseva ( rus, Ю́лия Анто́новна Пути́нцева; , ''puh-TEEN-tseh-vah''; born 7 January 1995) is a Russian-born Kazakhstani professional tennis player. She is a three-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist (twic ...
, and then in third round, she had one of her biggest career wins, defeating Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...
in three sets. However, in the quarterfinal, she lost to Johanna Konta. At the US Open, she continued her great performance, reaching round of 16 for the first time there. She defeated Stefanie Vögele, Bernarda Pera and Amanda Anisimova
Amanda Anisimova ( ; , ; born August 31, 2001) is a Russian-American professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA ranking of No. 21 in the world, and has been ranked in the top 100 since shortly after turning 17 years old. Anisimova has ...
, before Serena Williams stopped her from reaching her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. At the French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, as the No. 20 seed, Sakkari reached her second third round; against qualifier Martina Trevisan
Martina Trevisan (; born 3 November 1993) is an Italian professional tennis player. Trevisan is the current Italian No. 1, has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 24 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and in 2021 had a peak doubles r ...
, she had match points but missed the chance to reach the round of 16.
2021: First & second major semifinals, WTA finals, top 10 debut
Sakkari started off the season strongly making the quarterfinals ofAbu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area.
...
without dropping a set with wins over Anastasia Potapova
Anastasia Sergeyevna Potapova (born 30 March 2001) is a Russian tennis player.
Potapova has a career-high ranking of No. 44 achieved on 17 October 2022 and a doubles ranking of No. 44 achieved on 3 October 2022. Potapova is a former junior No ...
, Coco Gauff
Cori Dionne "Coco" Gauff (born March 13, 2004) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of world No. 4 in singles, reached on October 24, 2022, and world No. 1 in doubles, achieved on August 15, 2022. Gauff won h ...
and Garbiñe Muguruza
Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco (; born 8 October 1993) is a Spanish-Venezuelan professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and a career-high doubles ranking of world No. ...
. She then came from a set down to upset top seed Sofia Kenin
Sofia Anna "Sonya" Kenin (born November 14, 1998) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) of No. 4 in the world, which she achieved on March 9, 2020. She was the 2020 WTA ...
before losing to eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Siarhiejeŭna Sabalenka ( be, Арына Сяргееўна Сабаленка; russian: Арина Сергеевна Соболенко, ''Arina Sergeyevna Sobolenko'', born 5 May 1998) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She ha ...
in straight sets. She then backed this up with a semifinal appearance at the Grampians Trophy before losing to Anett Kontaveit
Anett Kontaveit (; born 24 December 1995) is an Estonian professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 2 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), which she first achieved on 6 June 2022, making her the highest-ranked Eston ...
in a three set thriller. However, she was unable to match her previous success at the Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
falling in three sets to Kristina Mladenovic
Kristina "Kiki" Mladenovic (; sr, Кристина "Кики" Младеновић, Kristina "Kiki" Mladenović, ; born 14 May 1993) is a French professional tennis player and a former world No. 1 in doubles.
She is a nine-time Grand Slam ch ...
. She rebounded with a quarterfinal appearance in Doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
losing to eventual champion Muguruza, in straight sets. She crashed out of the Dubai Championships to eventual finalist Barbora Krejčíková
Barbora Krejčíková (; born 18 December 1995) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2, achieved on 28 February 2022, and on 22 October 2018, she became List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles ten ...
in the first round. However she bounced back in Miami. She beat her opening opponents Arantxa Rus
Arantxa Rus (; born 13 December 1990) is a Dutch tennis player. In 2008, she won the girl's singles title at the 2008 Australian Open – Girls' singles, Australian Open, defeating Jessica Moore (tennis), Jessica Moore from Australia in the final ...
and Ludmilla Samsonova in the second and third rounds, respectively, for the loss of six games combined. She then saved six match points in a three-set thriller against surging American Jessica Pegula
Jessica Pegula (born February 24, 1994) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA rankings in singles and doubles of world No. 3, both achieved on October 24, 2022. She has won two singles titles and five doubles title ...
to reach her third WTA 1000 quarterfinal. There she faced Naomi Osaka
is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and is the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles. Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam singles champio ...
who had not lost a match in over a year and was on a 23 match-winning streak. Sakkari caused one of the upsets of the tournament in defeating the second seed in straight sets. With the win, she ended Osaka's chances of reclaiming the world No. 1 ranking and reached the biggest semifinal of her career. She then faced Bianca Andreescu
Bianca Vanessa Andreescu (; born June 16, 2000) is a Canadian professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of No. 4 in the world, and is the highest-ranked Canadian in the history of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Andreescu ...
for a place in the final but was herself defeated in a third set tiebreaker.
Sakkari made her first ever Grand Slam semifinal at the French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
after beating Katarina Zavatska
Katarina Vitaliivna Zavatska ( uk, Катаріна Віталіївна Завацька; born 5 February 2000) is a Ukrainian tennis player.
Zavatska has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 103, achieved on 3 February 2020, and a career- ...
, Jasmine Paolini
Jasmine Paolini (; born 4 January 1996) is an Italian tennis player. She reached career-high WTA rankings of No. 44 in singles and 122 in doubles. Paolini has won one singles title (at the 2021 Slovenian Open) and one doubles title on the WTA To ...
, Elise Mertens
Elise Mertens (; born 17 November 1995) is a Belgian professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in doubles.
Mertens is a three-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2019 US Open and 2021 Australian Open partnering ...
, Sofia Kenin
Sofia Anna "Sonya" Kenin (born November 14, 1998) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) of No. 4 in the world, which she achieved on March 9, 2020. She was the 2020 WTA ...
, and defending champion Iga Świątek
Iga Natalia Świątek (; born 31 May 2001) is a Polish professional tennis player. She is currently ranked world No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Świątek is a three-time major singles champion, having won the French Open in 202 ...
, ending the 11-match, 22-set Roland Garros winning streak of the 2020 champion. She became the first woman from Greece to reach a Grand Slam singles quarterfinal and later semifinal. It was also the first time in major history that two Greek players (Sakkari and Tsitsipas) were in the semifinals of a Grand Slam championship. However, Sakkari then lost to Barbora Krejčíková
Barbora Krejčíková (; born 18 December 1995) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2, achieved on 28 February 2022, and on 22 October 2018, she became List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles ten ...
in the semi–finals, despite having one match point.
In September 2021, Sakkari beat No. 4 seed Karolína Plíšková
Karolína Hrdličková ( née Plíšková; ; born 21 March 1992) is a Czech professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in singles, reaching the top of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings on 17 July 2017 and holding the pos ...
to earn a place in only the second Grand Slam semifinal of her career at the US Open to play qualifier from Great Britain Emma Raducanu
Emma Raducanu (born 13 November 2002) is a British professional tennis player. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 10 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) on 11 July 2022, and is the current British No. 1. Raducanu is the first British ...
. Sakkari's win against Plíšková was her third straight win over a top 10 seed, after defeating No. 6 seed Bianca Andreescu
Bianca Vanessa Andreescu (; born June 16, 2000) is a Canadian professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of No. 4 in the world, and is the highest-ranked Canadian in the history of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Andreescu ...
in a record-setting latest women’s match in the round of 16 and No. 10 seed Petra Kvitová in the third round and she is a 4-0 vs top-5 opponents in 2021. She also became the first Greek woman to reach the semifinals of the US Open. She was defeated by Raducanu in straight sets. As a result, she entered the top 15 at world No. 13 on 13 September 2021.
At the Ostrava Open
The Ostrava Open (currently known as the AGEL Open for sponsorship reasons) is a tennis tournament organised for female professional tennis players. It is currently a WTA 500-level tournament held in October, played on indoor hard courts, and firs ...
, she reached the final defeating the top seed, Iga Świątek
Iga Natalia Świątek (; born 31 May 2001) is a Polish professional tennis player. She is currently ranked world No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Świątek is a three-time major singles champion, having won the French Open in 202 ...
. She improved to 2-0 against Swiatek after a her win in the French Open quarterfinals at Roland Garros earlier in the year. This was her seventh win against a top-10 player and eleventh against a top-20 player this season. The Greek advanced to her first final since 2019 after losing nine straight WTA semifinals. In the final, she was defeated in threes sets by Anett Kontaveit
Anett Kontaveit (; born 24 December 1995) is an Estonian professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 2 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), which she first achieved on 6 June 2022, making her the highest-ranked Eston ...
. As a result of reaching the final she entered the top 10 in the WTA rankings for the first time in her career on 27 September 2021.
She qualified for the 2021 WTA Finals
The 2021 WTA Finals, also known by its sponsored name Akron WTA Finals Guadalajara, was the women's championship tennis tournament run by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) as part of the 2021 WTA Tour. It took place at the Panamerican Tennis ...
becoming the first Greek woman to participate in the year-end tournament. She reached the semifinals defeating Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Siarhiejeŭna Sabalenka ( be, Арына Сяргееўна Сабаленка; russian: Арина Сергеевна Соболенко, ''Arina Sergeyevna Sobolenko'', born 5 May 1998) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She ha ...
in three sets.
2022: Indian Wells final, sixth and seventh WTA final
Sakkari reached the fourth round at theAustralian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, where she lost to Jessica Pegula
Jessica Pegula (born February 24, 1994) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA rankings in singles and doubles of world No. 3, both achieved on October 24, 2022. She has won two singles titles and five doubles title ...
.
Sakkari entered the St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy as the top seed. She defeated Anastasia Potapova
Anastasia Sergeyevna Potapova (born 30 March 2001) is a Russian tennis player.
Potapova has a career-high ranking of No. 44 achieved on 17 October 2022 and a doubles ranking of No. 44 achieved on 3 October 2022. Potapova is a former junior No ...
, Ekaterina Alexandrova
Ekaterina Evgenyevna Alexandrova ( rus, Екатери́на Евге́ньевна Александро́ва, links=no; ; born 15 November 1994) is a Russian professional tennis player.
She has won three WTA singles titles, three WTA 125 titl ...
and Elise Mertens
Elise Mertens (; born 17 November 1995) is a Belgian professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in doubles.
Mertens is a three-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2019 US Open and 2021 Australian Open partnering ...
to reach the semifinals. Then she defeated Irina-Camelia Begu to reach her fourth career final, where she lost to Anett Kontaveit
Anett Kontaveit (; born 24 December 1995) is an Estonian professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 2 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), which she first achieved on 6 June 2022, making her the highest-ranked Eston ...
in three sets. At the Doha Open, she defeated Ann Li
Ann Louie Li (born January 17, 1995 in Bangkok, Thailand), popularly known as Ann Li, is a Filipino–Taiwanese businesswoman, fashion influencer, former actress, model, photographer, and television personality. She splits her time between Ma ...
, Jessica Pegula and Cori Gauff
Cori Dionne "Coco" Gauff (born March 13, 2004) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of world No. 4 in singles, reached on October 24, 2022, and world No. 1 in doubles, achieved on August 15, 2022. Gauff won h ...
, all in straight sets. In the semifinals, Sakkari lost to eventual champion Iga Świątek
Iga Natalia Świątek (; born 31 May 2001) is a Polish professional tennis player. She is currently ranked world No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Świątek is a three-time major singles champion, having won the French Open in 202 ...
.
Sakkari entered the Indian Wells Open
The Indian Wells Masters, also known as the Indian Wells Open and BNP Paribas Open is an annual tennis tournament usually held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. The owner is La ...
as the 6th seed. She defeated Kateřina Siniaková
Kateřina Siniaková (; ; born 10 May 1996) is a Czech professional tennis player who is the current world No. 1 in doubles.
She is a six-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2018 and 2021 French Opens, 2018 and 2022 Wimbled ...
, Petra Kvitová
Petra Kvitová, OLY ( , ; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 29 career singles titles, including two major titles at Wimbledon in 2011 and i ...
, qualifier Daria Saville
Daria Saville (née Gavrilova, born 5 March 1994) is an Australian professional tennis player. She represented Russia until 2015, before emigrating to Australia. She competed under her maiden name until her marriage to Luke Saville in 20 ...
and Elena Rybakina
Elena Andreyevna Rybakina (born 17 June 1999) is a Kazakhstani professional tennis player. She is the reigning champion at Wimbledon and the first Kazakhstani player to win a title at a major. She is also the first to be ranked in the world's to ...
to reached her first Indian Wells semifinals. Then she beat defending champion Paula Badosa
Paula Badosa Gibert () (born 15 November 1997) is a Spanish professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 2 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), which she achieved on 25 April 2022, and No. 124 in doubles, a ...
to reach her first WTA 1000
WTA 1000 tournaments is a category of tennis tournaments on the WTA Tour, governed by the Women's Tennis Association. The old WTA Premier Mandatory and Premier 5 tournaments merged into a single highest tier and it is implemented since the r ...
final of her career. But she lost to Iga Świątek
Iga Natalia Świątek (; born 31 May 2001) is a Polish professional tennis player. She is currently ranked world No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Świątek is a three-time major singles champion, having won the French Open in 202 ...
in straight sets. With this result, she reached her career-high ranking No. 3. She became the first Greek female player who reached the top 5.
In Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, Sakkari lost early in the second round against Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia
Beatriz Haddad Maia (born 30 May 1996) is a Brazilian professional tennis player. On 22 August 2022, she reached a career-high in the WTA rankings in singles at No. 15. Haddad Maia has won two singles and four doubles titles on the WTA Tour, on ...
in three sets. At the French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, Sakkari lost in the second round to Karolína Muchová
Karolína Muchová (; born 21 August 1996) is a Czech tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 19, achieved on 17 May 2021. Muchová has reached two finals on the WTA Tour, winning one title, the International-level Kore ...
in straight sets. At Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
, Sakkari lost in the third round to Tatjana Maria
Tatjana Maria (née Malek; born 8 August 1987) is a German professional tennis player. In November 2017, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 46, and in June 2016, she peaked at No. 54 in the doubles rankings.
She has won two singles ...
in straight sets. Sakkari hit 28 winners, but had 29 unforced errors in the match compared to 12 for Maria. At the Cincinnati Masters
The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
, Sakkari lost in the second round to Caroline Garcia
Caroline Garcia (, born 16 October 1993) is a French professional tennis player. She has been ranked in the top 5 in both singles at world No. 4 and in doubles at world No. 2. Garcia is the 2022 WTA Finals singles champion.
She is also a two-ti ...
in a tough three set match lasting more than 2 hours.
She reached her sixth WTA career final at the 2022 Emilia-Romagna Open
The 2022 Emilia-Romagna Open is a professional tennis tournament played on clay courts in Parma, Italy as an ATP Challenger Tour 125 event for the men and a WTA 250 event for the women. The fifth edition of the men's event was held between 13 an ...
where she was defeated by Mayar Sherif
Mayar Sherif Ahmed Abdel-Aziz ( ar, ميار شريف أحمد عبد العزيز; born 5 May 1996) is an Egyptian tennis player. She is the younger sister of Rana Sherif Ahmed. She has career-high WTA rankings of world No. 44 in singles, achiev ...
, in straight sets. However, this result was followed by opening round losses in Ostrava
Ostrava (; pl, Ostrawa; german: Ostrau ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 280,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rive ...
and San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
to Alycia Parks
Alycia Michelle Parks (born December 31, 2000) is an American tennis player.
She has career-high WTA rankings of 50 in singles and world No. 42 in doubles, achieved 2023, on February 27 and March 20, respectively.
Career 2021: WTA Tour & Grand ...
and Donna Vekic
Donna may refer to the short form of the honorific ''nobildonna'', the female form of Don (honorific) in Italian.
People
*Donna (given name); includes name origin and list of people and characters with the name
* Roberto Di Donna (born 1968), Ita ...
respectively.
Sakkari made it to the finals of the Guadalajara Open Akron
The Guadalajara Open Akron is a WTA 1000-level professional women's tennis tournament. It takes place on outdoor hardcourts, and was introduced in 2022 to be played in the month of October at the Panamerican Tennis Center in the city of Zapopan ...
defeating Marta Kostyuk
Marta Olehivna Kostyuk ( uk, Марта Олегівна Костюк; born 28 June 2002) is a Ukrainian tennis player. She has career-high rankings of 49 in singles, achieved on 14 February 2022, and world No. 39 in doubles, reached on 19 Septem ...
, Danielle Collins
Danielle Rose Collins (born December 13, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She has reached career-high WTA rankings of No. 7 in singles and world No. 86 in doubles. Collins has won two WTA Tour singles titles, at the 2021 Palerm ...
, Veronika Kudermetova
Veronika Eduardovna Kudermetova; ; tt-Cyrl, Вероника Эдуард кызы Кадыйрмәтова, translit=Veronika Edward qızı Qadıyrmätova. (born 24 April 1997) is a Russian professional tennis player.
She has a career-high si ...
and Marie Bouzková
Marie Bouzková (, born 21 July 1998) is a Czech professional tennis player. She attained her career-high WTA singles ranking of No. 26 on 31 October 2022. On 9 May 2022, she peaked at No. 24 in the WTA doubles rankings. So far, she has won one ...
in route. The win against Kudermetova qualified her for the WTA Finals
The WTA Finals (formerly known as the WTA Tour Championships or WTA Championships) is a tournament of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) played annually at the end of the season. The event is uniquely reserved for players at the top of the WTA ...
for a second consecutive year. In the final, she was defeated by Jessica Pegula
Jessica Pegula (born February 24, 1994) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA rankings in singles and doubles of world No. 3, both achieved on October 24, 2022. She has won two singles titles and five doubles title ...
in straight sets.
Maria quickly got revenge for her loss in Guadalajara final by edging out a straight-sets win over Pegula in the opening match of the WTA Finals
The WTA Finals (formerly known as the WTA Tour Championships or WTA Championships) is a tournament of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) played annually at the end of the season. The event is uniquely reserved for players at the top of the WTA ...
. She breezed past Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Siarhiejeŭna Sabalenka ( be, Арына Сяргееўна Сабаленка; russian: Арина Сергеевна Соболенко, ''Arina Sergeyevna Sobolenko'', born 5 May 1998) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She ha ...
and Ons Jabeur
Ons Jabeur ( ar, أُنْس جَابِر, ʾUns Jābir, ; born 28 August 1994) is a Tunisian professional tennis player. She has a career high Women's Tennis Association (WTA) ranking of world No. 2 achieved on 27 June 2022. Jabeur is the curr ...
in straight sets to finish 3-0 in the round robin stage, as she surged into the semifinals of the WTA Finals for a second straight year. Sakkari lost in straight sets to Caroline Garcia
Caroline Garcia (, born 16 October 1993) is a French professional tennis player. She has been ranked in the top 5 in both singles at world No. 4 and in doubles at world No. 2. Garcia is the 2022 WTA Finals singles champion.
She is also a two-ti ...
in the semifinals, 6-3 6-2.
National representation
Sakkari made her debut for theGreece Fed Cup team
The Greece Denmark Billie Jean King Cup team represents Greece in Denmark Billie Jean King Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Hellenic Tennis Federation. They currently compete in the Europe/Africa Zone of Group I.
History
Greece c ...
in 2012, and has a Fed Cup win–loss record of 12–18 to date.
Charity work and philanthropy
Sakkari is the first ambassador of the charity association DESMOS, which since 2012 supports vulnerable social groups, through many actions and programs, which are shared in collaboration with more than 800 organizations. She has been part of DESMOS since 2019. "I am a big believer in the value of giving and civic engagement, because they have the power to create waves of positive change for all of us. For this reason, with great joy, I accepted the proposal of Desmos to offer in my own way, as the first Ambassador", she stated. On 10 August 2022, Sakkari has been announced as the part of line up for "Tennis Plays for Peace" exhibition, which took place on August 24 with other numerous current and former tennis stars likeRafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
, Carlos Alcaraz
Carlos Alcaraz Garfia (born 5 May 2003) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked as the world No. 1 singles player by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Alcaraz has won six ATP Tour singles titles, including ...
, Coco Gauff
Cori Dionne "Coco" Gauff (born March 13, 2004) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of world No. 4 in singles, reached on October 24, 2022, and world No. 1 in doubles, achieved on August 15, 2022. Gauff won h ...
, John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court beha ...
, Stefanos Tsitsipas
Stefanos Tsitsipas ( gr, Στέφανος Τσιτσιπάς, ; born 12 August 1998) is a Greek professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on 9 ...
, Matteo Berrettini
Matteo Berrettini (; born 12 April 1996) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 6 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in January 2022, and world No. 105 in dou ...
, Iga Swiatek Iga may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Ambush at Iga Pass, a 1958 Japanese film
* Iga no Kagemaru, Japanese manga series
* Iga, a set of characters from the Japanese novel '' The Kouga Ninja Scrolls''
Biology
* ''Iga'' (beetle), a gen ...
and many others, 100% of the proceeds going to GlobalGiving, the international non-profit identified by Tennis Plays for Peace.
Career statistics
Grand Slam performance timelines
Singles
Doubles
References
External links
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sakkari, Maria 1995 births Living people Greek female tennis players Sportspeople from Athens Olympic tennis players of Greece Tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics