Maria Sakkari won the most important title of her career in Mexico a day ago, the WTA 1000 Guadalajara, and has now broken the $10 million barrier in career earnings.
By winning the WTA 1000 tournament in Guadalajara, she banked $450,500. The Greek tennis player “broke” the $10 million barrier in her career with this money.
It must be noted that this is money that comes only from tournament entries and not from sponsorships.
After the title in Mexico, Maria Sakkari now has $10,262,923.
She has won 2 titles in her career, played in 2 Grand Slam semi-finals (Roland Garros, US Open 2022), and was a finalist in 2 other WTA 1000 tournaments.
70 female tennis players (active and non-active) have earned more than $10 million with Serena Williams with 94,816,730 being the top!
Maria Sakkari ended a four-year title drought by winning Guadalajara 75 63 over Caroline Dolehide in a after the game interview she revealed.
Maria: “We live in 2023. Social media is a part of our everyday life. You cannot avoid it. Coco said she knows the user names. I know them too. I know the person with a YouTube channel who posts all my semifinal losses, all my final losses. I'm aware.
The satisfaction now, I cannot describe it. When you prove all these people wrong, it's fuel. For me, it worked as fuel. I knew it was going to come, I didn't know when. Thank you to them. They gave me strength.”
WTA Insider: “Now you sound like Daniil Medvedev”
Maria: “He's someone I look up to (laughs). He's very clever, & he's very intelligent.”
Not only did Sakkari secure the title, but she also took a significant step towards qualifying for her third consecutive WTA Finals. The finals will be held in Cancun, Mexico, and Sakkari's victory will boost her ranking from No. 16 to No. 9 in the Race, bringing her closer to the top eight by 300 points.
Additionally, Sakkari is set to complete two years of consecutive presence in the WTA Top 10 next week. She will rise from No. 9 to No. 6 in the world rankings, celebrating her accomplishment in style.
She faced the threat of dropping out of the top 10 this week as she had to defend points from her run to last year's final in Guadalajara. However, not only did she defend those points, but she went even further by claiming the title.
Throughout the final, Sakkari displayed her dominance on the court and did not buckle under the pressure from the favored Dolehide. Despite Dolehide's strong tournament performance and having nothing to lose, the Greek maintained her composure and raised her level of play at crucial moments. In the first set, Sakkari rallied to win the final three games and claim a 7-5 victory.
In the second set, Sakkari fought off a break point at 1-2 to avoid losing her serve. She then broke Dolehide's serve to take a 3-2 lead, firmly in control of the match. She continued to dictate the game and had a break point for a 5-2 lead in the seventh game.
Despite Dolehide reducing the deficit to 4-3, Sakkari ultimately secured a double break in the ninth game to win the set 6-3. This victory, the sweetest of her career, was achieved after 1 hour and 43 minutes of intense competition.
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