MUTUA MADRID OPEN

May 1, 2023

Maria Sakkari

Press Conference

M. SAKKARI/P. Badosa

6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations. Must have been a difficult match against Paula on her home tournament. How did you overcome Badosa today?

MARIA SAKKARI: Yeah, I knew it was going to be very tough because she was playing at home, and as I said on the court, she has been playing very good tennis lately. She's finding her way back.

I said it multiple times today that you don't get to No. 2 by luck. She's one of the best players on the tour, and I think her ranking is not the real picture of what her game actually is and of what she is.

Yeah, I'm very happy that I got that win today.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Given how well Paula is playing, and just the circumstances of this match, what was the key for you to kind of remain focused? Seemed like you were playing a very, very focused, intentional, you know, match today.

MARIA SAKKARI: Well, watching the match of Rune against Davidovich last night, you know, Tom and I discussed that I had to stay very focused on myself. I have to just try and do my thing. Because if you do one little thing that can trigger the crowd, then, you know, things can go downhill.

I was just trying to, you know, keep calm, keep doing what I was doing good the entire match and just play my game, try to be aggressive and use, you know, the hot conditions of today.

I think that, you know, my level is getting better and better, and, you know, I'm feeling a lot better than before.

Q. Just what does it mean for you to make the quarterfinals here?

MARIA SAKKARI: Obviously first time that I'm actually going, you know, deeper, let's say, than any other year. I do believe, though, that these conditions are great for my game, because the ball is flying, the ball is bouncing high. My ball is heavy, so it can do a lot of damage on this court.

I just feel like it was about time for me to buy into that, let's say, strategy and game plan that actually allows me to play good here.

Q. I would like to ask you about the new format of the tournament, two weeks, and if you have had some time to visit the city, to enjoy a little bit of Madrid?

MARIA SAKKARI: I mean, there are positives and negatives. I would say the positive thing is that when you play a match and the next -- most of the times you have a day off, and you can just relax and do fun things, as you said, visit the city, walk around, go have a nice dinner.

When you play back to back, then you don't have that chance. But then some of the negatives are that let's say I'm lucky because I'm from Europe, so even if I had lost, I could go back home and just rest and fly to Rome, which is an hour flight from home. But for someone that comes from far away, it's tough, because they have to either stay here or try and find a place to train.

Yeah, it's not easy. I don't know. I have heard different opinions, and I just don't know what else to say about it.

Q. Looking ahead to facing Irina-Camelia Begu, she's an incredible clay court player in terms of her success on clay compared to all the other surfaces. How familiar are you with kind of what you need to do to get that win against her?

MARIA SAKKARI: She's a very tough and tricky player. She's very solid, like she barely makes any mistakes.

Last time I played her was in St. Petersburg, and we had a battle, you know, and that court also played very slow. Not as a clay court, but kind of.

I just have to, you know, stick to my game and try and be aggressive, because that's with everyone. I don't want to play their game. I want to play my game. That's what I'm gonna try and do tomorrow, because she's in the quarterfinals for a reason, and I didn't know that, you know, she had better results on clay than hard court actually. Yeah, it's going to be tough.