Maria Sakkari is into the Indian Wells finals! But to reach the championship round of the tournament, she had to face the 20-year-old American sensation, Coco Gauff, in the semis. However, winning the match was not an easy task; both of them gave tough competition to each other, and the Greek also made a second set mishap, creating a hurdle for herself.
However, at the end of the day, she made it through the other side of the tunnel. Recently, the 28-year-old tennis star opened up about getting real about the mishap and confessed her feelings that she was going through during the match.
“It freaked me out a little bit” – Sakkari opens up about her thoughts while playing against Coco Gauff
The world-ranked 9th-ranked tennis player has reached her second Indian Wells final after defeating the US Open champion in the semi-finals. Recently, the Greek tennis player opened up about how she was feeling nervous during the match in such a way that she kept on thinking about the finish line, giving away the second set to her opponent.
She said, “Well, you know, I knew from the beginning it was going to be very tough. You know, a lot of things happened today. Rain delays. Obviously, you know, that second set could have been different, but I was thinking of that finish line too much, and then I was just thinking too much in that, you know, on how to close out the match. That didn’t really help me. It freaked me out a little bit. I was too nervous.”
On the other hand, she also highlighted that she is proud of herself that she kept aside her nervousness and fought hard in the third set even after having rain delays and going through a difficult second set. Before the first of two rain delays disrupted play, Sakkari was serving at 3–4. The match had gone on without any breakpoints.
When play resumed, she held her serve quickly to tie the match at four. Following that, she quickly secured a triple break point after taking advantage of her American opponent’s careless serving game. Not only that, the Greek tennis player was also asked about whether achieving such a feat against the 20-year-old would be possible in the past.
Sakkari has come a long way against Gauff
For the past few weeks, the ninth-ranked tennis player has been making headlines because of the coaching switch that took place before the tournament. After splitting with her 6-year-old coach, Tom Hill, she joined hands with Jessica Pegula’s former coach, David Witt, and since then, everything has become better and better.
In a recent press conference, she was questioned about whether she could have defeated the US Open champion if the match had happened six months sooner than it did. Rather than shying away from how far she has come, she stated, “Against Coco? No. Straightforward no.” With a smile on her face during this answer, she clearly highlighted how the coaching change, somewhere down the line, has been a good decision at the right time.
Nevertheless, what are your thoughts on Sakkari’s nervous revelation? Do let us know in the comment section below.
