Maria Sakkari's previous season was not particularly successful, especially towards the end. This didn't start well either. In Qatar, they were eliminated in the first round, just as happened in Abu Dhabi. Given the disastrous results, the ninth-ranked tennis player in the WTA rankings decided to take an uncompromising solution. The 28-year-old informed Fr The end of 6 years of cooperation with coach Tom Hill.
In Indian Wells, I appeared with a new coach who changed his approach to dealing with the player. At Indian Wells, where she is competing for the first time as David Witt's protégé, the Greek said her mental side has primarily improved.
He's very laid back. It's something that really helps me because I'm a very stressed person. I don't think I was really nervous about anything the last few days I was with him
~ Sakari admitted.
Sabalenka was kicked out of the tournament and Sakkari couldn't handle it
The match with Emma Navarro started well for Sakkari, because in the first set, after a close start, she was able to break her opponent's serve in the seventh game and it seemed that she would quickly lead 5:3. Instead, she dropped her serve, and in the twelfth game, her serve was broken for a second time Sexy assassin Aryna Sabalenka I scared my favorite again.
But the American started the second match poorly and lost four matches in a row. For the experienced Greek, this was an opportunity she was not going to waste, and although Navarro had as many as nine break points in the subsequent games, she did not capitalize on any of them and Sakkari won the set 6-2.
The representative of the host country also started poorly in the third set, although this time she was able to recover from the loss of serve in the fourth game and we witnessed a close competition again. But in the end, Sakkari came out on top again, winning the match 6-4 and the entire match in three sets.
Świątek will have a new competitor. The superstar is back in the game
Reaching the semifinals in Indian Wells is a big deal for Sakkari. The last few months have been a really difficult time for this talented player She also had thoughts about taking a break from tennis. The beginning of the current season was not the best, but under the leadership of the new coach, it has clearly rebounded.
After the match against Navarro, she made no secret that it was a very important win for her.
It was the hardest match I've played in a while. Emma is an amazing player. She is a very nice girl. I've been seeing her for the past few days. You played amazing. This is a very important victory for me. “I am very happy that I found a way to win today’s match,” she said immediately after the match.
Now Sakkari will face the American in the semifinals Coco Jouf. The second pair will include Iga Svetek and Marta Kostjuk. The Polish woman will be the favourite, but in the final, if she does qualify, she will have a more difficult task ahead of her. And this is regardless of which of the mentioned tennis players she meets, because it seems that the Greek is slowly returning to her fitness and that the top of the WTA rankings has a new competitor. In fact, the old is back.
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