After a miserable end to the 2024 season, Maria Sakkari has curtailed it early and will not play again this year after not playing since the US Open earlier this season.
Sakkari has battled with a shoulder injury since the Olympic Games. She went through a revival during the Sunshine Double under David Witt and then Roland Garros came and went with an early loss again and the downturn then began with a defeat to Emma Raducanu in the third round at Wimbledon.
She lost in the opening round of the US Open. Albeit she was injured and seemingly was just trying to push through and ended up retiring with the pain anyway. She has not been seen since handing a walk-over to Yafan Wang.
Since then with the Asian hard court swing the next up on the calendar, Sakkari alongside Elena Rybakina and also Iga Swiatek has been a leading absentee. Now with minimal tournaments still to come and no chance of WTA Finals, she will regroup ahead of Australia.
"For the last few weeks, my main focus has been on recovering from my shoulder injury. Unfortunately due to this, I will have to end my season earlier than planned. I will be back stronger and pain-free," she wrote. "Thank you for all your support, it's been a challenging year but it has taught me a lot as well."
Albeit it is make or break now as she will slide continually down the rankings as she has been doing in recent weeks in heading out of the top 20 so not playing for the rest of the year will likely see the net result of being unseeded in January. This hands tough ties but as she proved earlier in the year when the narrative was similar, she can produce with her back against the wall.
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.
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