After advancing to her first Slam semifinal, at Roland Garros in May—and becoming the first Greek woman ever to go that deep in a major—Maria Sakkari signed the camera on court with the word “Hellas,” surrounded by a heart.
Hellas is Greek for, well, Greece.
Greece may be the birthplace of the Olympic Games, but it has never been known as a tennis powerhouse. Suddenly the nation of 10 million has two major tennis stars: No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas, a finalist at this year’s French Open, and Sakkari, a semifinalist at Roland Garros and up to a career-high No. 18 on the women’s tour.
Sakkari, into the semifinals for the first time at the US Open after soundly beating Karolina Pliskova, the No. 4 seed, is not content to be the other Greek.
The compact, 5-foot-8 and powerfully built Sakkari has been muscling a number of top-rated players around this year. The Greek triumphed over her nemesis Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 US Open champion who had never lost in Flushing Meadows, in a herculean battle that lasted three hours, 30 minutes and went to 2:13 a.m.—the latest women’s match in US Open history. It was a tantalizing bout of brutal shotmaking and test of wills.
Sakkari said what changed midway in the match is that she willed herself to be bolder. “By telling myself to be more brave, it's not like, ‘Maria, now be brave, and you're brave,’” said the Greek. “It's just a process in practice and everything that has helped me to be more brave.”
Before her titanic match against Andreescu, the 26-year-old Greek upset 10th-seeded Petra Kvitova – the Czech two-time Slam winner who is normally the one pushing players around on court. Sakkari dismantled Kvitova in two very convincing sets, 6-4, 6-3, winning 89 percent of her first-serve points.
“Last year I played against Serena on this court, and I mean it was dead city,” said Sakkari, who grew up in Athens, a place with plenty of incredible ruins. “I’m very excited that I’m playing in front of a crowd.”
In the Roland Garros semifinals, Sakkari held a match point at 5-3 in the third set against Barbora Krejcikova, the eventual champion, only to lose it and the match in dramatic fashion, 7-5, 4-6, 9-7.
“I lost sleep for four days after that match,” recalled Sakkari. “I was a point away from the final.”
“I proved to myself that I can do it. Hopefully this week.”
“I'm just gonna stick to what I'm doing good right now and stay with the same mindset,” she added. “Just keep believing in myself that I can, you know, go further in this tournament.”
Andreescu, the 2019 US Open champion, has never lost in Flushing Meadows. But the 17th-seeded Sakkari has yet to drop a set in this year's tournament.
Sakkari has taken out a number of top players in addition to Andreescu, Kvitova and now Pliskova. At the French Open, the Greek beat No. 14 Elise Mertens, No. 4 Sofia Kenin and No. 8 Iga Swiatek en route to the semifinal. In Miami, Sakkari beat world No. 2 Naomi Osaka (who had not lost a match in over a year), giving up just four games, 6-0, 6-4, in the quarterfinals.
In all, Sakkari owns six victories over Top-5 opponents in the past two years (other victims include Belinda Bencic and Elina Svitolina). And the Greek has registered nine Top-20 wins in 2021.
Battle-hardened, confident and fit, Sakkari is one of the most improved players on tour.
At the age of 18, Sakkari moved from Athens to Barcelona to train. The Greek is, expectedly, adept on red clay—but she says she loves hard courts as well, and her results show it.
Sakkari reached the third round in singles this summer at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, but she looks as though she could have also been in the swimming competition, with her impressively sculpted shoulders.
The Greek plays a muscular, attacking game, setting up her big, topspin forehand with a back-arching kick serve that opens up the court. Sakkari’s Instagram handle gives you an idea about her tennis mindset: She goes by “SAKKATTACK.”
After her win over Kvitova, Sakkari was asked on-court about her perfectly coiffed bun, which sits high on her head. The stylish Greek player admitted to “using a lot of hairspray.” “That’s why it always looks so good!” she said.
Sakkari likes to have everything in its right place. And she’s been looking very good indeed through five rounds of the 2021 US Open.
Sakkari’s plan going forward is simple: “Just keep fighting, that's it," she says. "That can take you far.”
On Thursday against Emma Raducanu, Sakkari will again need to have every element of her game in place. We can certainly expect her to fight.
Watch: Meet Maria Sakkari's coach, Tom Hill
Watch: Maria Sakkari's quarterfinal press conference
