"It's my favourite tournament" - Sakkari after winning start at Roland Garros

Maria Sakkari played her best grand slam event ever last year at Roland Garros and she made a winning start this year.

Facing native Clara Burel, Sakkari was able to ease into round two with a straight-set victory 6-2 6-3. Sakkari played her first match in front of fans at Philippe Chatrier and the experience left her very impressed. She noted as much after the match explaining:

“It is my favourite tournament, my favourite court in the world. I have great memories from last year. I know 99.9 per cent were supporting Clara, which is normal, but this atmosphere is something amazing. I’m very glad we are back to normal and I can witness this atmosphere on Court Philippe-Chatrier.”

She further spoke about some of the Greek fans that were really loud the entire match:

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“Sometimes it’s hard to believe. Some girls breakthrough at the age of 18, 19, 20. My breakthrough year was last year. I’m very proud of myself, I know my team is also very proud and my country too," added the 26-year-old. Greek people love each other, we love our country, so for me it’s something amazing that I can travel the world and play for them.”

Up next at the French Open for her is Karolina Muchova and on that, she said:

"I think she was injured for a while, so she was out. Especially in Grand Slams, she has been having amazing results. I know it's one of the toughest second rounds that I could have faced. She's a very tricky player, because she has variety in her game. But, I think that my game is going to be even better for the next match. I trust my abilities and my game overall. So I think I'm just going to go out there and enjoy one more day here at Roland-Garros."