QATAR TOTAL ENERGIES OPEN

February 17, 2023

Maria Sakkari

Press Conference

J. PEGULA/M. Sakkari

6-2, 4-6, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: How proud are you for your fight and staying in the match today?

MARIA SAKKARI: I think that it was very, very tough for both of us, of course. Probably the toughest conditions we've both played, you know, in a long time.

It was an ugly match, I would say, because of the conditions, but at the same time, yeah, I'm happy with the progress I made this week.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You were talking about the good progress you made this week. Can you explain a bit on that? What do you feel makes you feel better despite the loss?

MARIA SAKKARI: I think that from the tough place where I was last week after losing that semifinal, coming here and beating three very, very tough opponents, beating a player that I have never beaten, coming here after a long flight and just one day of preparation from indoor to outdoor and mentally just overcoming a lot of obstacles in the court, I think that for me, I know that people may not see it, just people that are around me, it was a very positive week.

Of course I'm not happy that it ended today, but I think that scheduling also was against me, I have to say.

Q. What was the mindset when you came from Linz here? What were you telling yourself to make sure you're going to have a good week here?

MARIA SAKKARI: I just erased what happened last week, and I just felt like mentally I wasn't in a great place last week, like I didn't do the best I could. But I just, you know, as I said, I erased it and I focused on what I had to do in order to get back in a good mental spirit.

Q. When you say that scheduling was against you, can you be more specific? Maybe you think you should have played a bit later today?

MARIA SAKKARI: Definitely, definitely. I don't think. I mean, I'm not saying that it was the reason why I lost, and of course you have to be ready to play whenever. But I think that it's not fair when you finish after midnight, I slept at 4:00 a.m. and had to wake up, woke up at 10:00, and then having, you know, to come here and warm up and play under these conditions, you need to have a clear mind.

You know, personally, I didn't get the recovery I wanted, because two hours more of sleep would be amazing. But they chose not to, so, yeah.

Q. Speaking of schedule, not during this tournament but also, as you said, you have to do the long flight to come over to here. In this week, this one, it's the only WTA tournament taking place. So can you talk a little bit about how tough this kind of schedule is for players.

MARIA SAKKARI: I mean, you saw it from the first round how tough the draw was. Like the players that were playing in the first round you had in the second round were like Grand Slam quarterfinal level.

It's impressive that we have tournaments like this one or Stuttgart, there are a couple of tournaments during the year that are very, very strong, but it shows that the depth of women's tennis is actually quite incredible that all these players play with each other from the first round in this kind of tournament.

Q. I wanted to ask you about the conditions. Firstly, last night, you know, it appeared very windy outside, but how really was it on the court? How bad or how much of a struggle is it? And how much do these conditions make it a mental battle more than, you know, really getting through it physically?

MARIA SAKKARI: Last night was windy. It wasn't as windy as today. Maybe during the night it gets, I don't know, it drops probably, because yesterday, you know, I started very late.

You know, here it can get windy, so you have to be ready for it. Like coming in this tournament, you have days that it can be very, very windy, and that center court, I don't know why, but I feel like it's more windy in there than out here.

It's tough. Like whoever has, you know, whoever plays a more, how can I say, consistent and more clever game wins in these conditions.

You can't play pretty tennis. That's my opinion. That's how it felt on the court. I'm sure it feels like that from both sides.

Other than that, you know, it's nature. You cannot -- there is no way to stop it (smiling).

Q. About finding the identity of your game, I'm just wondering, for you how it was, because some players find it naturally. Others they have to wonder what's the best for them and stick to it. Was it easy for you? Were there some players where you were, like, I know that's the way I need to play? Maybe it's going to pay off later? In that the situation, what are the doubts that can come in?

MARIA SAKKARI: I think to get to the level that I am the last couple of years, it's because I found my identity on the court. Of course you cannot play the same way every single day, because it's naturally, like nobody can, except a few players in this world.

But, you know, like nowadays if you're not a good athlete, if you're not aggressive and if you're passive, then you just cannot compete with any of the other girls. The way the tour is right now, you have to play week in, week out. If you're not fit and if you're, like, not very consistent, aggressive player, then that's how I identify myself, then I think they cannot keep up with the other players.

You see with everyone in the top 10, they are all, you know, aggressive players, like you have to be that way. That's how, let's say, that's my identity. I have improved a lot my serve. I have improved a lot my groundstrokes. My movement was always there, but of course you can always get it better.

But of course there are periods during the year that you struggle to find that back again.

Q. Talking about one of the last questions, about the calendar and the brutal draw you have here, that's of course because this is the only tournament in this week. What do you think it's the problem that there are no more tournaments in weeks like this?

MARIA SAKKARI: I think also, you know, a very important role is for sure the weather. The weather in Europe is, you know, it's cold. It's tough to find a lot of indoor venues to host tournaments.

I don't know why they cannot find -- I don't work for the WTA. I don't know the behind-the-scenes, to be honest. But it was always like that. You always had these two tournaments, which are very tough, and a couple in South America maybe had a few more in South America that could split up the draws.

I know the inside. I really don't know. I'm sorry.

Q. It seems like you added some new coach or a new assistant coach to your team. Can you talk about him and what is your story behind it? What are you aiming for?

MARIA SAKKARI: I mean, Mikael Tillstrom was obviously a very good player, a coach that has coached some amazing, you know, tennis players.

Because I have been many years with Tom, we just felt like it's good sometimes to have a different voice also in the team for both of us. Because, you know, when you spend a lot of time with the same person, it's good just to hear something, you know, from a different voice, as I said.

The good thing is that we are all working very well together. They are doing actually an amazing job just, you know, communicating and having the same opinions, which is very important when you have someone coming in the team.

I'm very happy. I think he's a great addition in the team. We all agree that he can bring great value.