Maria Sakkari has dedicated her latest US Open victory to Greece after reaching her second grand slam semi-final.
The 17th seed is into her second grand slam semi-final after beating two-time grand slam finalist Karolina Pliskova 6-4 6-4.
Sakkari hit 22 winners and just 12 unforced errors as she converted two of her five break points to seal a place in the last four at the US Open.
In her post-match press conference, Sakkari dedicated her latest victory to her home country Greece and described what her deep run in New York means to the country, “Well, I think it’s a big thing for Greece,” Sakkari told the press.
“I didn’t have a chance to say that on court, I want to dedicate this win to Greece because we struggled a lot last month with some fire damages. So for me winning for Greece, making Greek people proud and happy, especially in difficult times, it makes me even more happy because you know how much I love my country.
“What I witnessed after the French was only good things. I never heard a bad comment from someone. They were all coming to me with a very nice smile and very nice words to say. I can only embrace that and just have good memories from it because that’s not going to last for my entire life. I’m going to be remembered, for sure, but I’m not going to be an active player in 10 years or 15 years.”
Whatever happens in Sakkari’s career she and Stefanos Tsitsipas would have made Greek tennis history that will be remembered for a long time to come.
On Thursday Sakkari will play her second grand slam semi-final having lost her first one to Barbora Krejcikova at Roland Garros in a dramatic three set match.
Speaking in her press conference Sakkari spoke about the differences between then and now with the Greek claiming she is playing better tennis now, “I could have closed that match at the third set. I think I will do things differently this time,” Sakkari admitted.
“But I feel like my tennis is better now than it was at the French. I’m more prepared. I’m ready. But as I mentioned earlier, we all have equal chances of making the finals. After reaching my first Grand Slam semi-final at the French, I felt like I can do it again. It was not luck because I beat all these good players.
“That gives me a lot of confidence because I beat some very, very good players to reach the semi-finals this time. I’m actually feeling really well. I don’t want to jinx it. My tennis looks in a great place right now. Mentally I’m pretty calm.
“I don’t want to get too excited for this win today because I have to play tomorrow. If I had a day off, it would be different. I’m very excited to play my second semi-final.”
Sakkari will have a massive opportunity to reach her first grand slam final when she takes on British qualifier Emma Raducanu.
The Brit is yet to drop a set through qualifying and the main draw having just beaten Olympic champion Belinda Bencic in the last eight.
However Sakkari has said she is not favourite for the match, “But I wouldn’t call myself the favourite. I think we all have equal chances of winning the semi-finals and then winning the title. I would give 25% to each starting tomorrow, then 50 to the two finalists. We are all for a reason here. We’re all playing well.”
The match will be the second night session match which will roughly be at 2am BST.
