"It means a lot" - Sakkari following victory over Kenin

Maria Sakkari continued her great play this week in Abu Dhabi and speaking after the match she underlined the significance of those results.

Sakkari started off the year in Abu Dhabi with several strong performances including the victory over Kenin where she had to fight back in order to win. It was a stellar comeback that saw her improve dramatically to overcome a 2-6 first set to win the next two 6-2 6-0. After the match she said:

"Beating these players this week it means a lot. I'm playing players that I've never played, like [Muguruza] yesterday, so I have a better idea if I play them again. So, in general, it gives me a lot of confidence starting the year like that and I'm super happy to travel to Australia with some good matches with me."

The Greek had issues in the first set which she lost with 6-2. She explained it by saying:

"I think I was rushing a little bit too much at the beginning of the match. I didn't really know what I had to do once I saw that what I was doing wasn't working. I tried a different way that actually worked. I tried to be more solid and make more balls.

She elaborated further by saying:

"I think I did way too many errors and I was hitting too big when I didn't have to. But I'm glad that once again I found the way to turn the match around."

She will face Sabalenka next, a player she knows very well. Speaking on that she said that the Belarussian was playing with a lot of confidence and she is looking forward to the match.

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