Quick Facts
Biography
Maria Sakkari (Greek: Μαρία Σάκκαρη, [maˈri.a ˈsakari]; born 25 July 1995) is a Greek professional tennis player. She achieved her career-high singles ranking of No. 22 on 21 October 2019. Her highest WTA doubles ranking is No. 176, achieved on 4 November 2019.
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Early and personal life
Sakkari was born in Athens in 1995 to former top 50 tennis player Angelikí Kanellopoúlou and Konstantinos Sakkaris. She has two siblings: brother Yannis and sister Amanda. She was introduced to tennis at age 6 and moved to Barcelona at age 18 in order to train. Growing up, her favourite players were Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Sakkari currently resides in Monte Carlo.
Professional career
Maria Sakkari made her debut for the Greece Fed Cup team in 2012, and has a Fed Cup win-loss record of 12–18 to date.
She made her Grand Slam debut at the 2015 US Open.
2016–2017: First Premier semifinal and top 10 win
Sakkari won her second match in a WTA tournament at the Istanbul Cup by defeating the top seed Anna Karolína Schmiedlová. After beating Su-Wei Hsieh, she reached her first WTA quarterfinal. She reached her first WTA semifinal at the Wuhan Open by beating Caroline Wozniacki, Elena Vesnina and Alizé Cornet, losing to Caroline Garcia. This success propelled her into the top 50 of the world rankings.
In 2017 she reached the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time at the Australian Open, and reached the same stage at Wimbledon and the US Open, where she defeated the seeded Kiki Bertens but was eliminated by Venus Williams.
2018: First WTA final and top 30 debut
Sakkari started 2018 season with four-first round losses, against Danka Kovinic in Shenzhen, Katerina Siniakova at Australian Open, Julia Gorges in St. Petersburg, and Sorana Cirstea in Doha. In Acapulco she reached her first win of the 2018 season, defeating Lara Arruabarrena in first round, but in second round she lost against Stefanie Vogele.At the (Indian Wells, United States) Sakkari managed to beat Donna Vekic, 16th seed Ashleigh Barty and 17th seed CoCo Vandeweghe, respectively. She lost in 4th round to eventual champion Naomi Osaka. At the (Miami, United States) she defeated Aleksandra Krunic and 28th seed Anett Kontaveit and reached the third round where she lost to Monica Puig.
Sakkari started her clay-court season by reaching her first semifinal in 2018 in (Istanbul, Turkey) where she beat Cagla Buyukakcay, Aleksandra Krunic and Arantxa Rus, respectively, before losing to Polona Hercog. She then lost in the first round of theMutua Madrid Open to Kiki Bertens. Her next tournament was the Italian Open, where she avenged her Madrid exit by beating Bertens in first round and then in second round made her second win against top-10 player by beating Karolína Plíšková. She lost in the third round to Angelique Kerber. At the French Open she reached third round after defeating Mandy Minella and Carla Suarez Navarro and then she completed third rounds at all of Grand Slams.
Sakkari lost all of her matches at grass-court season. She was defeated by Julia Gorges at the Birmingham Classic ,Svetlana Kuznetsova at the Eastbourne International , and by Sofia Kenin at Wimbledon.
Sakkari reached her first WTA final at the (San Jose, United States) beating Christina Mchale, Timea Babos, third seed Venus Williams, Danielle Collins before losing the title to Mihaela Buzarnescu. On 6 August, she reached a career-high ranking of No. 31.
2019: First WTA title and five top-10 wins
Sakkari won her first WTA trophy in Rabat, defeating Johanna Konta in the final.
Sakkari qualified for the Premier 5 Italian Open in Rome, reaching the semi-finals, but lost to the eventual champion Karolína Plíšková.
WTA career finals
Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)
| Finals by surface |
|---|
| Legend |
| Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) |
| Tour Championships (0–0) |
| Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–0) |
| Premier (0–1) |
| International (1–0) |
| Finals by surface |
| Hard (0–1) |
| Grass (0–0) |
| Clay (1–0) |
| Grand Slam tournaments (0–0) |
| Tour Championships (0–0) |
| Premier Mandatory & Premier 5 (0–0) |
| Premier (0–1) |
| International (1–0) |
| Hard (0–1) |
| Grass (0–0) |
| Clay (1–0) |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | Aug 2018 | Silicon Valley Classic, Unites States | Premier | Hard | Mihaela Buzărnescu | 1–6, 0–6 | |
| Win | May 2019 | Morocco Open, Morocco | International | Clay | Johanna Konta | 2–6, 6–4, 6–1 |
ITF Circuit finals
Singles: 17 (7 titles, 10 runner–ups)
| Finals by surface |
|---|
| Legend |
| $100,000 tournaments |
| $75,000 tournaments |
| $50,000 tournaments |
| $25,000 tournaments |
| $10,000 tournaments |
| Finals by surface |
| Hard (3–4) |
| Clay (4–6) |
| Grass (0–0) |
| Carpet (0–0) |
| $100,000 tournaments |
| $75,000 tournaments |
| $50,000 tournaments |
| $25,000 tournaments |
| $10,000 tournaments |
| Hard (3–4) |
| Clay (4–6) |
| Grass (0–0) |
| Carpet (0–0) |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | Sep 2011 | ITF Athens, Greece | 10,000 | Clay | Deniz Khazaniuk | 6–1, 3–6, 3–6 | |
| Loss | Sep 2012 | ITF Antalya, Turkey | 10,000 | Hard | Ana Bogdan | 3–6, 2–6 | |
| Loss | Sep 2013 | ITF Mytilini, Greece | 10,000 | Hard | Klaartje Liebens | 1–6, 2–6 | |
| Loss | Sep 2013 | ITF Athens, Greece | 10,000 | Hard | Aminat Kushkova | 0–6, 5–7 | |
| Loss | Apr 2014 | ITF Heraklion, Greece | 10,000 | Hard | Pernilla Mendesová | 2–6, 2–6 | |
| Win | Apr 2014 | ITF Heraklion, Greece | 10,000 | Hard | Despina Papamichail | 6–1, 1–6, 6–3 | |
| Loss | May 2014 | ITF Båstad, Sweden | 10,000 | Clay | Conny Perrin | 5–7, 1–6 | |
| Win | May 2014 | ITF Båstad, Sweden | 10,000 | Clay | Carolin Daniels | 7–5, 6–2 | |
| Win | Jun 2014 | ITF Niš, Serbia | 10,000 | Clay | Dea Herdželaš | 3–6, 6–4, 6–1 | |
| Loss | Jun 2014 | ITF Toruń, Poland | 25,000 | Clay | Barbora Krejčíková | 4–6, 1–6 | |
| Win | Jul 2014 | ITF Tampere, Finland | 10,000 | Clay | Anastasia Pivovarova | 6–4, 7–5 | |
| Loss | Aug 2014 | ITF Savitaipale, Finland | 10,000 | Clay | Emma Laine | 3–6, 7–5, 0–6 | |
| Win | Mar 2015 | ITF Heraklion, Greece | 10,000 | Hard | Anastasiya Komardina | 6–4, 6–3 | |
| Win | Mar 2015 | ITF Heraklion, Greece | 10,000 | Hard | Valentini Grammatikopoulou | 6–2, 6–2 | |
| Win | May 2015 | ITF Maribor, Slovenia | 25,000 | Clay | Rebecca Peterson | 3–6, 6–2, 6–2 | |
| Loss | May 2016 | ITF Saint-Gaudens, France | 50,000+H | Clay | Irina Khromacheva | 6–1, 6–7, 1–6 | |
| Loss | Jun 2016 | ITF Szeged, Hungary | 50,000 | Clay | Viktoriya Tomova | 6–4, 0–6, 4–6 |
Doubles: 9 (5 titles, 4 runner–ups)
| Finals by surface |
|---|
| Legend |
| $100,000 tournaments |
| $75,000 tournaments |
| $50,000 tournaments |
| $25,000 tournaments |
| $10,000 tournaments |
| Finals by surface |
| Hard (2–2) |
| Clay (3–2) |
| Grass (0–0) |
| Carpet (0–0) |
| $100,000 tournaments |
| $75,000 tournaments |
| $50,000 tournaments |
| $25,000 tournaments |
| $10,000 tournaments |
| Hard (2–2) |
| Clay (3–2) |
| Grass (0–0) |
| Carpet (0–0) |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | Sep 2013 | ITF Athens, Greece | 10,000 | Hard | Lee Pei-chi | Keren Shlomo Saray Sterenbach | 6–3, 1–6, [8–10] | |
| Loss | Apr 2014 | ITF Heraklion, Greece | 10,000 | Hard | Despina Papamichail | Natela Dzalamidze Valentini Grammatikopoulou | 7–6, 3–6, [5–10] | |
| Win | May 2014 | ITF Båstad, Sweden | 10,000 | Clay | Kim Grajdek | Dea Herdželaš Conny Perrin | 7–5, 6–4 | |
| Win | Jun 2014 | ITF Niš, Serbia | 10,000 | Clay | Alexandra Nancarrow | Lina Gjorcheska Marina Lazić | 6–3, 6–0 | |
| Win | Jul 2014 | ITF Tampere, Finland | 10,000 | Clay | Alexandra Nancarrow | Emma Laine Anastasia Pivovarova | 6–2, 6–3 | |
| Loss | Aug 2014 | ITF Savitaipale, Finland | 10,000 | Clay | Alexandra Nancarrow | Emma Laine Diana Bogoliy | 4–6, 6–7 | |
| Win | Sep 2014 | ITF Madrid, Spain | 10,000 | Hard | Inés Ferrer Suárez | Yvonne Cavallé Reimers Lucía Cervera Vázquez | 6–2, 3–6, [11–9] | |
| Loss | Aug 2015 | ITF Bad Saulgau, Germany | 25,000 | Clay | Despina Papamichail | Cristina Dinu Diana Buzean | 6–2, 3–6, [8–10] | |
| Win | Nov 2015 | ITF Dubai, UAE | 75,000 | Hard | Çağla Büyükakçay | Elise Mertens İpek Soylu | 7–6, 6–4 |
Performance timelines
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | A | P | Z# | PO | G | F-S | SF-B | NMS | NH |
Singles
Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments and Olympic Games are included in Win–Loss records.
This table is current through the 2019 WTA Elite Trophy.
| Tournament | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | SR | W–L | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||
| Australian Open | A | 2R | 3R | 1R | 3R | 0 / 4 | 5–4 | 56% |
| French Open | A | Q1 | 1R | 3R | 2R | 0 / 3 | 3–3 | 50% |
| Wimbledon | A | 2R | 3R | 1R | 3R | 0 / 4 | 5–4 | 56% |
| US Open | 1R | 1R | 3R | 2R | 3R | 0 / 5 | 5–5 | 50% |
| Win–Loss | 0–1 | 2–3 | 6–4 | 3–4 | 7–4 | 0 / 16 | 18–16 | 53% |
| Year-End championships | ||||||||
| WTA Finals | Did Not Qualify | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | ||||
| WTA Elite Trophy | Did Not Qualify | RR | 0 /1 | 0–2 | 0% | |||
| National representation | ||||||||
| Summer Olympics | NH | A | Not Held | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | ||
| Premier Mandatory tournaments | ||||||||
| Indian Wells Open | A | Q1 | Q2 | 4R | 1R | 0 / 2 | 3–2 | 60% |
| Miami Open | A | 1R | Q1 | 3R | 2R | 0 / 3 | 3–3 | 50% |
| Madrid Open | A | Q2 | Q2 | 1R | 1R | 0 / 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| China Open | A | Q2 | A | 1R | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Premier 5 tournaments | ||||||||
| Dubai / Doha Opens | A | A | A | 1R | A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Italian Open | A | A | Q1 | 3R | SF | 0 / 2 | 6–2 | 75% |
| Canadian Open | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 0 / 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| Cincinnati Open | A | Q1 | A | 2R | QF | 0 / 2 | 4–2 | 67% |
| Wuhan Open | A | A | SF | 1R | A | 0 / 2 | 4–2 | 67% |
| Career statistics | ||||||||
| Tournaments played | 1 | 12 | 16 | 24 | 22 | 75 | ||
| Titles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Finals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Overall Win–Loss | 0–1 | 5–12 | 16–16 | 22–24 | 29–22 | 1 / 75 | 72–75 | 49% |
| Year-end ranking | 188 | 89 | 52 | 41 | 23 | $2,698,064 | ||
Notes
- The first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Open since 2009. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009–2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The two tournaments have since alternated status every year.
- 2011: WTA Ranking–702,
2012: WTA Ranking–627,
2013: WTA Ranking–610,
2014: WTA Ranking–301.
Top 10 wins
| No. | Player | Rank | Event | Surface | Rd | Score | MSR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | |||||||
| 1. | Caroline Wozniacki | No. 6 | Wuhan Open, China | Hard | 2R | 7–5, 6–3 | No. 80 |
| 2018 | |||||||
| 2. | Karolína Plíšková | No. 5 | Italian Open, Italy | Clay | 2R | 3–6, 6–3, 7–5 | No. 42 |
| 2019 | |||||||
| 3. | Kiki Bertens | No. 6 | Charleston Open, United States | Clay | 3R | 7–6, 6–3 | No. 50 |
| 4. | Petra Kvitová | No. 5 | Italian Open, Italy | Clay | 3R | 7–5, 5–7, 4–0 ret. | No. 39 |
| 5. | Elina Svitolina | No. 7 | Silicon Valley Classic, United States | Hard | QF | 1–6, 7–6, 6–3 | No. 30 |
| 6. | Petra Kvitová | No. 6 | Cincinnati Open, United States | Hard | 2R | 6–4, 2–6, 6–3 | No. 33 |
| 7. | Aryna Sabalenka | No. 9 | Cincinnati Open, United States | Hard | 3R | 6–7, 6–4, 6–4 | No. 33 |