US OPEN

August 29, 2022

Maria Sakkari

Press Conference

M. SAKKARI/T. Maria

6-4, 3-6, 6-0

THE MODERATOR: If we could just start out, talk about the match, a tough three-setter, came out on top, big third set.

MARIA SAKKARI: Yeah, I mean, she's a very tough player to play. She's very tricky, has a very different game than all the other girls on the tour. Obviously, you know, she's very experienced and the fact that she has been around, I mean, she's a mom of two, so she's more intelligent than us (smiling).

She's more, you know, aware of things. That makes her a very tough opponent.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. I was just curious what you made of the conditions on the court today. Seems like they are playing quite quickly and streaky tennis in terms of the score. What did you make of it today?

MARIA SAKKARI: Yeah, well, I knew that coming to New York that everything was going to be quick and fast. I didn't expect any slow and bouncy conditions.

The fact that I had the week of preparation here helped me. Obviously the weather has been very hot and humid, which a lot of players can struggle. Personally, I like it, and I always said how much I like the heat, just because I grew up in a climate where it's very hot.

You know, I didn't find it any different to any other US Open the years before.

Q. You made the semifinals last year. What sort of memories did you feel coming back on court for the first time?

MARIA SAKKARI: Great memories. It's one of my favorite tournaments, if not "the" one. As I said on the court, the atmosphere is just very different and very unique. It gives me, brings me back to last year that I had the great tournament, and I really enjoyed my time here.

I'm happy that I got this match out of the way, because it was a very tough one, and now I can just start playing better day by day.

Q. Where is your confidence level at this point, would you say, coming into this tournament? Does it shift now a little bit now that you, as you say, got this match out of the way?

MARIA SAKKARI: I mean, I'm sure you spoke to thousands of players a lot of times. They have been telling you the same thing after playing a first round in a Grand Slam, how difficult it is to, you know, just play good in a first-round match. I don't think there is anyone out there that feels the game the way they would feel it in quarters or in a semifinal.

My confidence is growing. I'm building, you know, my confidence in the tournament. I would say that my tennis in the third set was in a very good place.

Q. In San Jose you were saying you rediscovered the joy and it was going to be a different Maria Sakkari over the summer.

MARIA SAKKARI: That was in Toronto.

Q. Now that you have had some tournaments in and you are here in New York, do you feel that that's still true? Did that end up being true regardless of results?

MARIA SAKKARI: Yeah, what I said in Toronto was 100% the truth. Like I never, like, wanted my words to be, you know, translating to that I feel like the old Maria and so now I'm going to win every single match. I never wanted it to mean that.

I felt like, as I said to you in Toronto, that I was not enjoying, I was struggling a lot, there were days I didn't want to get out of bed. And now it's been -- I'm going on the court every day with a smile on my face.

And, you know, there are going to be bad days like there was in Cincy, I had Caroline playing amazing, and I was not playing that well, but I still enjoyed that match.

A few months ago I wouldn't. That's a positive for me, and that's how the old Maria was and the new Maria now is.

Q. You just referred to days you didn't want to get out of bed. I'm curious to know, is that due to the fact that you are not achieving the results you wanted to get on court, or were there other factors that contributed to that feeling?

MARIA SAKKARI: Well, I think results were just, you know, not the most important thing. Obviously was more to handle that new profile that I had being one of the top three players in the world, like I couldn't -- I know to some people it might sound like, well, what's the difference between being 6 that you ended last year to being 3 after Indian Wells? Well, for me, it was.

Yeah, like in Madrid I wouldn't want to get out of bed, and Tom and John would come in the room and drag me out to go out for lunch or stuff.

It was very tough but I have the right people around me; my family, my team, my boyfriend. They all really help me. My friends. It took time, because I lost myself. It was very, very tough.

I could say that everyone around me was suffering with me.

Q. Can you try and articulate what is the difference that you felt between the top six and the top three? In what ways did it make you feel different?

MARIA SAKKARI: Like now talking to you, it does not make a difference (smiling). Like being 6 or being 3, it's an achievement that not many people have gotten to.

I think it was all in my mind. It was, you know, top three in the world, like once I won that match, the emotions just came out. I think I just made it bigger in my mind that it was. Because at the end of the day, even if you are 15, 20, 50, like you are, like how many people try to do that and in the end not many people make it.

It's just, you know, it doesn't really make any difference now that I have realized it.

Q. Do you talk to your mom about that? What kind of things did she tell you to try to get you back?

MARIA SAKKARI: Oh, God, my mom I think was suffering the most. I remember I would call her in San Jose, I was crying like if I was five years old. I think she was just heartbroken, you know. Because you cannot be -- she could not act like Angeliki, who was a former tennis player, but she was my mom.

We went just back to basics. She said, If you cannot play, just come back. If you don't feel like playing, just come back. We will have holidays all together and you'll find your joy again.

But then I just dig deep and I didn't go back. I didn't fly back. I stayed in the U.S.

Q. In terms of the support that you felt, not just from like your mom and your family, but outwardly like fans who I think responded to you very positively being so open, what was your reaction to that and were you surprised that the reaction was pretty positive when you kind of opened up about a lot of the stuff?

MARIA SAKKARI: I think it really helped me just to open up and say how I felt. Just being honest to everyone that has been following me all these years. I mean, to you guys, as well. I don't want to come here and say, Oh, I'm feeling great, and just fake it (smiling). No, I'm going to tell you the truth.

And there was a reason why my results were not good the last few months. It was very nice that I got all that support. I saw what you wrote, everyone had something nice to say, like it was probably 90% or 95% of the comments were good. It's very important just to feel like you have their support, and because they are not directly connected to you, but at the same time, they are. So it was very nice. It boosted my confidence, for sure.