“Maybe I need to take a break. I suffer on the court. I try to do everything to improve myself…” Maria Sakkari (seed n°8), beaten 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the US Open by the Spaniard Rebeka Masarova (71st in the world ) broke down at a press conference.
Last episode of a nightmarish Grand Slam year for the Greek (28) after eliminations in the first round at Roland-Garros and Wimbledon and a place in the third round at the Australian Open (three consecutive eliminations in the 1st round). Maria Sakkari (semi-finalist of the US Open 2021) has won only 9 victories in 15 matches since Roland-Garros. Beaten at Flushing-Meadows, she has won only 6 matches in her last 7 Grand Slam tournaments.
“If I had played at least five or ten percent better, I would have won this match. These are matches I have to win. I can’t lose these matches; there have been too many for my level this year, and that’s unfortunate. I feel like my level was and always has been low and I need to do something about it. It’s not a lack of effort, that’s for sure. I don’t know what I’m going to do, whether I’m going to take a break or not, ”summarized the Greek on Eurosport, in remarks reported by Reuters.
