Maria Sakkari admits she was caught off guard by her opponent after crashing out of the US Open on Wednesday.
The world No.3 boasted a one-set lead before falling 3-6, 7-5, 7-5, to Chinese world No.75 Wang Xiyu. A 21-year-old player who had previously only ever won one main draw match at a major tournament before this year’s US Open. To add to Sakkari’s frustration, she also had a 3-1 lead in the decider before suffering her earliest exit from the tournament since 2018.
“I had on one hand an opponent on a good day and on the other a mediocre Maria who couldn’t find a way to close the match,” Sakkari said during an interview with Greek publication SDNA. “I had a break in the third set, if I could find a way to hold my serve one more time and then serve for the match, it would have been different.”
Sakkari’s loss comes during what is a turbulent time for her on the Tour. Since reaching the third round at Wimbledon, she has failed to win back-to-back matches at four consecutive tournaments. Is it the fifth time this season she has lost to a player ranked outside the world’s top 50.
Reflecting on her latest performance, the 27-year-old admits the type of tennis produced by Xiyu was something she and her team wasn’t expecting. Prior to playing Sakkari, Xiyu had won 13 out of her last 20 Tour matches played and reached the semi-finals of the Citi Open.
“It’s not like I didn’t know her. The thing is, she was playing free, she had nothing to lose,” said Sakkari.
“I expected another player from what we (my team) had studied. I don’t think we made such a big mistake. She just closed her eyes and was playing freely.”
Despite the disappointing loss, Sakkari remains upbeat about her season overall which has consisted of two contrasting halves. She is still in contention for qualifying for the season-ending WTA Finals in November.
“It’s not a bad year for me. I’m in the Top 8 in the Race, I’m still in the Top 8 in the ranking,” she reflected. “I had a great start to the season, it’s just that the last four months have not been good. I wouldn’t say it’s a bad year, I’d say it’s a not-so-good second part of the season. It’s disappointing, it hurts, because I was feeling better, I was enjoying it, I was feeling good on the court and it was disappointing that my level was so low today.”
Sakkari s the third top 10 seed to crash out of the US Open after Simona Halep and Daria Kasatkina.
