"I’m not playing tennis to be No. 65 in the world": Buoyant Maria Sakkari sets big goals ahead of Cincinnati Open second-round clash

Greece’s Maria Sakkari believes that she is on the right track after securing some important wins in the recent past. Sakkari is currently taking part in the Cincinnati Open, where she defeated Kamilla Rakhimova in the round of 128 with a score of 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

It was Sakkari’s fourth win in the last six matches she played after Wimbledon, which has shown a slight improvement after a disastrous first few months of 2025. Overall, this year, Sakkari has won 18 matches and suffered 21 defeats in 39 outings.

Those performances became a reason for the former world number three to drop to 90 in the WTA rankings earlier this year. A recent surge has improved her ranking, and she is now placed in the 72nd spot in the updated WTA rankings. Ahead of her second round match against Italy’s Jasmine Paolini, Sakkari spoke to the Cincinnati Open’s official website, where she stated that she thinks she has finally managed to find a good ‘balance’. Sakkari also admitted that earlier in the season, she was ‘very stressed’, which played a key role in some poor results on the court.

“I think it’s just the fact that I found balance,” said Sakkari. “Going into the season, I was just very stressed, very focused on, ‘I have to get back the Top 10’ and, ‘If I’m not in the Top 10, I’m a failure. It’s not good enough.’ I’m just getting rid of that thought and just giving myself time.”

Talking about the overall game, Sakkari was of the opinion that she is ‘getting there’ and also highlighted the importance of feeling happy while playing the sport. Sakkari stated that she realised that enjoying the game is very important for her, considering that she will not be playing the sport for a long time.

“I feel like I’m getting there with my game,” said Sakkari. “I’m a lot happier than I was before. That’s the most important thing. Good things are going to come. I’m very positive about it. It’s the first time that I can look you in the eyes and tell you that for sure. I’m convinced that good things are, for sure, going to come. It’s just going to take time. I don’t know how long, but I’m very happy with how things are going. It wasn’t easy, but I would say, overall, happiness is personally the key right now. I was just, like, ‘You know what? I live a great life. I’m so privileged and so grateful to be in tournaments like this. I’m not going to be playing for another 10 years, that’s for sure, so I better enjoy it now and just trust the process, which I do.”

Talking about her overall goals, Sakkari stated that she remains a ‘perfectionist’ and that her objective is always to be placed in the top-10 or top-5 players. Sakkari stated that she does not play tennis to be world number 65, and if that was her objective, she would have retired a long time back.

“I’m a perfectionist,” said Sakkari. “I’m playing tennis to be a Top-10, Top-5 player,” she asserted. “No disrespect to other players, but I’m not playing tennis to be No. 65 in the world. Otherwise, I will stop and do something else, because I feel I have the capability to do so. I just want to do it full-on and just be one of the best. I’m not happy with being No. 65. I just know who I am, I know what type of athlete I am.”

It will be the fourth time Sakkari will face Paolini. In the last three meetings, Sakkari had an advantage over the Italian player as she emerged victorious on two occasions. Their most recent meeting came in the round of 32 of the Madrid Open earlier this year, where Sakkari came out on top in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-1.