Maria Sakkari has enlisted the help of her former mentor Tom Hill to get back on track with the duo reuniting roughly 14 months after deciding to go their separate ways.
Greek publication SDNA has confirmed the reappointment of Hill, who previously worked with the former world No.3 for six years until February 2024. During their time together, Sakkari was ranked inside the world’s top 10 for two-and-a-half years, won two titles and reached two Grand Slam semifinals.
In recent months, the 29-year-old had worked with David Witt, Sergi Bruguera and then Reymond Sluiter. Sluiter departed the team due to personal reasons and had been temporarily replaced by Sakkari’s hitting partner, Julien Cagnina.
It is understood that Hill will begin his second stint with Sakkari tomorrow (Thursday 17th) and will accompany her at the Madrid Open later this month. Hill had been coaching America’s Peyton Stearns on the Tour.
After ending her 2024 season early due to a shoulder injury, Sakkari has struggled to find her top tennis so far this year. She has failed to win back-to-back main draw matches at 10 consecutive tournaments since January. Five out of those 10 defeats have been to top 10 players. However, her latest defeat at this week’s Rouen Open was to world No.73 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the first round.
“I’ve been in a better place. But I’m happy that I’m healthy; that’s the most important thing,” Sakkri during an interview with The Second Serve published earlier this month.
“It took a few years for me to get injured. I got my first injury at 29. So that’s partially a good thing, but on the other hand, it was tough to just accept things after coming back from an injury.
“My ranking obviously has dropped; I need to get it back to where it was. Not just because I want to be a top 10 tennis player again, but also I’ve been getting bad draws because I’m not seeded.
“I’m not high enough to avoid those players in early rounds. But at the same time, if you want to go deep into a tournament, you’ll have to beat those players no matter what round it is.”
Sakkari is currently ranked 82nd in the world which is her lowest position since 2017.
