Maria Sakkari Pays Emotional Tribute to Close Family After Heartbreaking Home Defeat

With the WTA Tour returning to Athens for the first time in 35 years, it was only fitting that a local hero made it to the final. Maria Sakkari reached the stage after a dominant run in the Hellenic Championship, which saw her not drop a single set. But Barbora Krejcikova proved to be a step too far for Sakkari as she suffered a disappointing 7-6, 6-3 defeat in the final. Following the heartbreak, she got emotional in front of her home crowd and shared a heartfelt message for her family.

“I never thought that I would be standing here today, playing in front of this crowd,” she said in her post-match speech. “You made me a player. You and, of course, my family, my grandfather, and everyone. You made this career possible, so thank you. Thank you for believing in me like no one else.”

This was Sakkari’s 11th WTA final and her first since the 2024 Indian Wells Masters. While she may be leaving Athens without the title, this campaign is likely to have given her a big confidence boost that could help her maintain this form in the coming tournaments. But she would definitely not be satisfied with the performance that she delivered in the final against Krejcikova.

Sakkari had started the final on a high and had raced to a 4-1 lead in the opening set. But she allowed Krejcikova to get the break back, and the set was eventually dragged to a tiebreaker. Despite the home crowd not being in her favor, the Czech managed to weather the storm and clinched the breaker 7-5.

Sakkari started the second set on a positive note as well. She got the early break to take a 2-1 lead. But Krejcikova would elevate her game to another level in the next few games. She won five out of the next six games to wrap up the final in an hour and 43 minutes. This was her ninth singles title win on the WTA Tour and her first since the 2024 Wimbledon Championships.

While Sakkari would definitely be disappointed not to have won the final, she would be happy to join an elite club that also includes her mother.

Maria Sakkari matches her mother’s feat at the Hellenic Championship

The 30-year-old’s run to the final on home soil came 40 years after her mother, Angeliki Kanellopoulou, had reached the final of the same tournament in 1986.

Sakkari had reached the final after racking up straight-set victories over the likes of Polina Kudermetova, Harriet Dart, Alycia Parks, and Alina Korneeva. The emotions had gotten the better of her after she had clinched the spot in the final.

Sakkari had been moved to tears after she had reached the final by defeating Korneeva 6-1, 7-5. With the home crowd cheering her on, it wasn’t a surprise that emotions were running high.

Even Stefanos Tsitsipas had hailed Sakkari for reaching the final in Athens. He felt that it was a “special” moment for Greek tennis as a whole because he, too, had reached the final in Gstaad. But unlike Sakkari, Tsitsipas went on to win his final against Raphael Collignon 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 to lift his maiden Gstaad title.

The run to the final of the Hellenic Championship will likely see Sakkari rise to No. 33 in the rankings. It remains to be seen if she will make further improvements to her rank in the upcoming hard swing.

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