New hire confirmed for Maria Sakkari as long-time coach of Jessica Pegula, David Witt joins with immediate effect

Maria Sakkari added David Witt to her team following the separation of the coach from Jessica Pegula last week. The information has been shared by the Greek media outlet Gazzeta, which claims that the former world No. 3 ended her collaboration with Tom Hill after six years.

The partnership between Sakkari and Witt aims to help the former world No. 3 overcome her current struggles, as she has suffered four defeats in her last five matches. Witt's first tournament with Sakkari will be in Indian Wells, taking place between March 6 and 17.

Currently, Sakkari holds the No. 9 ranking, although a significant portion of her points comes from the end of the 2023 season, where she secured her second career title at the WTA 1000 Guadalajara Open Akron and reached the final of the WTA 500 Washington Open.

However, Sakkari faces another significant point defense that could potentially drop her out of the top-10, as she defends semifinal points in Indian Wells.

The 51-year-old coach has an outstanding career accompanying WTA tennis players with long-term partnerships. Although he recently parted ways with Pegula, he worked with her for the last 5 years, with the last three years being the best in the American's career, initially consecrated as a top-10 player and later as a top-5.

Previously, Witt spent 11 years on the team of the 7-times Grand Slam champion Venus Williams, first as a hitting partner and later as a coach. With the new addition of Witt to replace Tom Hill, Sakkari maintains the rest of her coaching team.