Maria Sakkari and
Stefanos Tsitsipas have long been intertwined and heralded Greek hopes, but this has turned into a bit of a Greek tragedy with the next week seeing both falling out of the top 10 after two and a half and five years respectively.
Both are at interesting junctures of their careers with Tsitsipas showing glimmers at the Australian Open, but at times has been dogged by inconsistency and the same can be said recently for Sakkari who has gone from one of the most consistent players on the WTA circuit to one that has a habit of losing to low ranked players. She has since ditched long-time coach Tom Hill as she searches for answers.
But they are also intertwined more than is thought. At the 2019 Australian Open, they became the first Greek woman and man to make the third round at the same Grand Slam since 1936 to start with. On adjoining days in 2019, Sakkari won her first title on clay and on the day after, Tsitsipas followed suit with his first clay title.
At the 2021 French Open, both had their best chances at a Grand Slam title with Sakkari having match point against Barbora Krejcikova in the semi-finals and Tsitsipas going 2-0 up in sets over Novak Djokovic in the final. Both hold career high rankings of World No.3, both in 2022. In 2023, they won one title apiece and both came in Mexico with Tsitsipas aiming to defend Los Cabos next week.
They will leave the top 10 on the same day and also both personally are a Leo in terms of star sign and had mothers on the WTA Tour in both instances. Forever intertwined and the same can be said for their decline out of the top 10 next week. A Greek tragedy indeed.
