Maria Sakkari appeared optimistic that one day she will conquer Indian Wells, after losing the final to Iga Sviontek.
The leading Greek tennis player expressed her love for this particular tournament and commented on what went wrong in this year’s final.
In detail what he said:
“You never want to leave a tournament defeated, but at the same time, there were some really cool things that happened these two weeks that I can’t ignore. I believe that one day I will win this trophy».
Because Sviontek did not lose a game in the 2nd set: “I don’t think she did anything different, I think I was a little more tired. Of course that’s no excuse, he played very well, but maybe things would have been different for me if he didn’t last so long in my previous match. That’s why it’s important to close matches when you have to. I think that’s exactly why Iga is doing so well, because she rarely goes 3-set matches. This helps in the final stages of tournaments. Now I’m thinking about Miami, not to lose my first race again, because I haven’t had a good record there in the last two years.”
About how you can beat a player like Sviontek: “Against her you have fewer opportunities. This is the difference between the Top 10 and the rest of the players. When you play with Iga Sviontek, Rybakina, Koko Goff, Pegula, you have 2-3 chances in the whole match and you have to take advantage of them, otherwise it’s goodbye. Especially Iga, who is aggressive and at the same time very stable. You have to take advantage of the opportunities it gives you. From 3-0 we went to 3-3 and 4-4. That’s where it started to fail. But I lost three returns with the backhand and that cannot happen against such players”.
On whether he was thinking about Sviontek’s near-perfect record in finals: “No, I wasn’t thinking about that. I know she usually wins her finals and especially in the last 2 years she very rarely loses. But it’s not something that was on my mind. I just wasn’t good enough today. My energy levels were low and to beat Iga you have to be at your best.”
About what it is that makes her want this particular title so much every time: “For me it’s the best 1000 of the season, I’m having a great time here. I like the conditions, the ball bounces high and goes. I have played in two finals and one semi-final here in the last three years. I believe that one day I will get the trophy. We’ll see, nobody knows what will happen in the future.”
On whether she had spoken to her new coach, David Witt: “We didn’t go into many details about the match. Everyone is trying to make me smile and feel good about what I have accomplished in the last two weeks. We’ll get into the details when we get back on court, but it’s not all about forehands and backhands. You have to accept and enjoy the moment, have fun with it. It was a very good week. I definitely wanted to win, but it’s all good.”
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