QATAR TOTAL ENERGIES OPEN

February 12, 2026

Maria Sakkari

Press Conference

M. SAKKARI/I. Swiatek

2-6, 6-4, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on your performance. Can you give us a few comments, please.

MARIA SAKKARI: It's not like you have an advantage with Iga and with those players. You always, you're always the underdog with playing against the No. 2 in the world, especially where I'm coming from.

But I kept telling myself, even after the first set, that I was playing good tennis, and that I had to stick to my game plan and the way I was playing. I was aggressive, I was brave, and it worked out really well.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. When you're up against an opponent that you've had problems with in the past and the third-set lead is starting to slip, how are you staying focused and calm when it gets to 5-All from 5-2, for example?

MARIA SAKKARI: I believe I'm not the first and I'm not the last that is going to be in that position. A lot of times I tell that to myself that, you know, it's something that happens every day on a tennis tournament. And it really calms me down, because I know I'm not abnormal, just losing a break in that third set. It's very normal, actually, to get a little bit tight and a little bit stressed, especially when I haven't witnessed those moments in a long time, and haven't had the chance to close out matches like the one today.

I'm just very happy that I managed to overcome myself in those last two games and come up with some great tennis, and some brave tennis, I would say.

Q. One of the things that makes Iga a really great player is when she wins the first set she's pretty unbeatable. Out of the 110 matches at WTA 1000s, you're the first person to beat her when losing a first set. What adjustments did you make based off of how the first set went, and especially in that second and then in the third?

MARIA SAKKARI: I honestly don't feel like I was playing bad in that first. I was unlucky with that net cord in the 2-All game. It was going to be 3-2 up for me. I know it's a small detail, but with those players it's one or two points per set that can really change everything. It's different going 3-2 up than 3-2 down a break.

So I kept telling myself that I'm playing good. Tom kept reminding that I was playing really well. Just kept doing the same thing. I feel like you have to be very aggressive, but at the same time very solid with those players, and it worked out really well today.

Q. You've played her many times at different stages of your career and her career. Just curious if after this match you feel something different in her game. Is she hitting the ball the same, have you felt anything different today?

MARIA SAKKARI: No. Obviously, you know, she's developed. She's getting older in the way where she's getting more experienced. I would say her game is still very, very difficult. She's one of the toughest players to play. She's had those records for a reason. Her ball is heavy. That's something you have to take into consideration, because it always, it feels like it's going to go out, but it lands in and it lands very deep. But those things you have to be ready with her because, you know, where she is right now, not right now, the last few years, she's where she is for a reason. She's an amazing player, and she has many more years to do some great things like she's been doing.

Q. This is a big win for you. How does this compare to a big win when you were kind of rising up the ranks? Could you just talk about the difference, what that meant and what this means.

MARIA SAKKARI: It's pretty similar because I'm trying to achieve the same goal. I'm trying to obviously come back to the top of the game. I feel like the only way of doing it is beating those players.

That's the same thing I did when I was at the same ranking a few years ago. Obviously now with a lot more experience, and a lot more, you know, being more patient, I would say. Just very understanding of the situation, and just very, I would say patience is the word. Just to accept that it's going to come, but you just don't know when it's going to come.

Q. You have gone through some ups and downs the last couple of years. In your on-court interview you kept saying that you believe in yourself. Where does that kind of belief and that confidence come from?

MARIA SAKKARI: I feel like you need to have that something special to be very good in tennis and very good in sports. People that haven't done this or haven't been close to the sport for many years like you guys have been, you've witnessed how, what it takes for someone to be very good. I feel like you need to have something special in you in order for you to achieve something big.

I feel like I've had something special all those years. I just had to remind myself that I belong there, and that I've been putting the work, a lot of work inside the court, in the gym. A lot more time, let's say, on the court, on the practice court than I did the last few years. Just because I feel like it's necessary for me to catch up with those players. I'm just very happy that I see that the things that we've been working on the last few months with Tom, almost close to a year, paid off today and this week.

Q. Wondering if you would talk about the not up call towards the end of the match. Is that the first time you had ever used that review, and what was that like, that experience?

MARIA SAKKARI: It's great that we have it, because imagine if we didn't have it today it was going to be, obviously I lost the game still, but it's great. I feel like it's, you know, it's very tough also for the umpire to see because you don't know how they put the racquet. And they're not, you know, robots, they're human beings, and they can lose the balance with their vision. It's the first time I've used it, and I'm happy that it exists.

Q. Do you feel like you're aware when you hit a not up, because I feel like maybe it's the not the same with Iga.

MARIA SAKKARI: Like if I was the one?

Q. Yeah, if it had been you, do you feel like you would have been able to tell?

MARIA SAKKARI: Yes, I feel like you do. Sometimes maybe you're confused. I'm not saying that she knew or anything, of course, but sometimes I feel like you know. But you can also, you know, be a little bit, I'm not so sure, I'm unsure about how the bounce was.

Q. You started working again with Tom, right?

MARIA SAKKARI: Yes.

Q. I was wondering if he, of course you have been working with him for a long time, but I was wondering if he brought something new to you.

MARIA SAKKARI: The thing is that it was very, it is very good, because we know each other really well. The thing that we both were aware of what we need to work on, we just wanted to take it to another level because we know that these girls are playing very, very good.

I feel like we just tried to develop my game. As I said, being patient was very important for both of us. We started last year in Madrid, and I felt like it would have been nice if it came a little bit earlier, you know, just trying to play better tennis earlier in the season. But I cannot complain, it's been very, very nice to see myself playing the way I've been playing this week.