The Greek says she needed a win like today’s, for her confidence.
By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday April 23, 2025
A 7-13 record entering Madrid has landed Maria Sakkari in the doldrums – and more than 50 ranking spots below where she finished 2024 – at No.82 in the world.
But things could be finally on the up for the 29-year-old.
A win! Maria Sakkari and Tom Hill are back on the trail together at Madrid. pic.twitter.com/d7vFeKGwLt
— TennisNow (@Tennis_Now) April 23, 2025
In her first match after reuniting with former longtime coach Tom Hill, Sakkari edged China’s Wang Xinyu, 6-4 7-6(7), to set a second-round clash with Poland’s Magda Linette.
“I need those kinds of wins,” Sakkari said on the Tennis Channel desk. “Especially now. My confidence is not the highest that it’s ever been, but that’s fine – I’ve accepted it.”
“It’s going to come with confidence,” she added.
Sakkari worked with several different coaches after parting ways with Hill last year – David Witt, Sergi Bruguera and Raemon Sluiter – but could not find the connection that she had with Hill, who coached Peyton Stearns for a spell.
Hill and Sakkri started a six-year partnership in 2018, and during that time the Greek blossomed into a Top-10 talent. She reached a pair of major semifinals in 2021, but has never been that deep at a major since.
Perhaps her second time around with Hill can help with that bit of unfinished business? For now, Sakkari is just happy to have a new lease on life.
“I’m super excited,” the former World No.3 said. “I’m so happy to be back with him. He’s like a brother to me, we have a great relationship. He’s an amazing coach and I feel like that one year apart was great for us because we really got to mature and see other things.”
The Greek says she’s not afraid of dropping out of the Top 100 or having to drop down and play challenger events to rebuild her ranking.
Most important, she just wants to build confidence in her game and in herself.
“I feel like Tom knows me better than anybody else. He’s like a brother to me!” 🫂
Maria Sakkari is happy to have long-time coach Tom Hill back in her corner 🤗#MMOpen pic.twitter.com/JqmZ1Mr17u
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) April 23, 2025
“I know that if I don’t play well I might drop outside of the Top 100 and I might not make the Wimbledon main draw,” she said. “Those things are there and they are always going to be there, it’s fine. What I care about right now is just to get my game back and to get myself back. What matters is where you finish the year, if that means that I have to go play some challengers and some 125K tournaments, I don’t really care, I will do that – as long as I am where I belong at the end of the year.”
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