After being one of the most consistent players on the WTA Tour for a long time, Maria Sakkari's downward slide in terms of Grand Slams continued on Wednesday after she was well beaten by Russian star, Elina Avanesyan 6-4, 6-4 in the second round.
The eighth seed had cause for some optimism after winning through her first round which she failed to do at the last three Grand Slams with losses last at US Open, Wimbledon and Roland Garros. She reached the third round last year. The US Open in particular was a cruel blow to take with the Greek crying in her post match press conference and wondering about her tennis future.
She went on to silence the doubts by breaking one of the longest title droughts inside the top 10 winning Guadalajara after not winning since Rabat in May 201`9 and qualified suddenly for the WTA Finals after Karolina Muchova withdrew. But her love affair with Mexico did not extend to Cancun.
She started the season playing the United Cup with Greece and had no other warm-up tournaments after ahead of the Australian Open and it was an all too familiar sight for fans of the Greek as she bowed out to Avanesyan comfortably.
It marks the eighth consecutive Grand Slam in which she lost in the first week and four consecutive Grand Slams like alluded to losing in the first or second rounds. This is since making the 2021 US Open semi-finals in the same year she also reached the latter stages at Roland Garros.
It was a tournament of what could've been in that case with Emma Raducanu going on to seal unexpected glory in a year where Sakkari feasibly could've been a two-time Grand Slam champion had all gone her way. But instead she will be pondering again after Melbourne as despite being eighth seed and breaking her first round duck, it is another early loss.
The same could also be said for Caroline Garcia who after defeating Naomi Osaka lost out to Magdalena Frech in a real show of how fortunes can suddenly flip in WTA Tennis. Both have gone from playing the best tennis of their careers to early defeats in Grand Slams with change likely needed.
Maria Sakkari: - 8 consecutive Grand Slams losing in the first week - 4 consecutive Grand Slams losing in 1st or 2nd rounds Her Slam results since making the 2021 US Open semifinals: R4 R2 R3 R2 R3 R1 R1 R1 R2 She was a top 10 seed in all those events.
