Maria Sakkari burst into tears: "I feel that I am embarrassing the Greeks" - Watch video

Maria Sakkari

Maria Sakkari broke down in tears at the press conference after her third consecutive Grand Slam elimination in the first round.

The defeat to the Spaniard, Rebeka Masarova, 2-0, has upset Maria Sakkari. After Roland Garros and Wimbledon, bad things happened for the leading Greek player, who was in a bad psychological state after the premature elimination from the Grand Slam.

At the press conference, Sakkari burst into sobs, "I don't know, it's always the same."

At the same time, in her statements to Eurosport Greece, Sakkari emphasised: "It is painful; I am embarrassing myself, my people, and all Greeks."

Also, the 28-year-old player did not rule out the possibility of taking a break later in the year.

In particular, Sakkari said: "I think my level was below zero; it's awful at the level I'm at to compete in this way. It hurts a lot, and okay, it's tough to deal with all this right now. It is excruciating.

"The new year sounds a long way off to me. The question is what I will do from now on, from tomorrow itself. Taking a break and getting my mind on track. The other scenario is to keep going and try my best this year, and to play two or three more tournaments and whatever happens, happens.

"It's very fresh right now to know what's right or what I want to do. It's also the feelings now of the fight. These two scenarios are in my mind, and it's very frustrating.

"I feel that I have embarrassed myself, my people, that I am embarrassing all Greeks."

It should be noted that after the end of the 1st set, Sakkari, disappointed with her image, asked her team to leave the court, as it happened, with the television camera catching her trainer, Tom Hill, standing, having returned to the game's last game.

Maria Sakkari began her North American summer hard-court swing full of promise, when she beat Leylah Fernandez, Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula to reach the final in Washington, D.C. As the next month played out, that run ultimately never resulted in the Greek turning a corner.

On Monday at the US Open, Sakkari was the first seed to be eliminated when she was knocked out by 71st-ranked Rebeka Masarova, 6-4, 6-4. The Swiss-born Spaniard had previously been 0-4 against Top 10 opponents, but took her chances by converting all three break points created to dispatch the No. 8 seed after 87 minutes.

The last time Masarova won an outdoor hard-court match in the main draw of a tour-level event? January 7, when she beat Ysaline Bonaventure to make her maiden WTA final in Auckland. Masarova’s US Open preparation saw the 24-year-old fall in the first round of Cincinnati qualifying before picking up a pair of wins at the WTA 125 in Chicago.

For Sakkari, her 2023 at the majors ends with three straight opening-round exits. One could understand her Roland Garros departure at the hands of eventual finalist Karolina Muchova, who had also won their encounter at the Paris major a year earlier.

The same can’t be said for Wimbledon, where she bageled Marta Kostyuk in the first set only to lose 7-5 in a decider. Worth reminding that like Masarova, Kostyuk had never beaten a Top 10 opponent with a 0-14 mark going into that encounter.

Sakkari came into Flushing Meadows at No. 13 in the Race to the WTA Finals. A year after a run to the WTA 1000 Guadalajara title match clinched the final berth to the season finale (held in Fort Worth, Texas), the former world No. 3 will need an even bigger fourth quarter boost to get back to the prestigious year-end event.

READ MORE: Robbie Williams sings Angels cover for Ange Postecoglou - Watch video.

Copyright Greekcitytimes 2024