Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas followed each other out of the top 10 this past week with the former ending a run since 2021 with both players currently ranked 11th in the rankings. This riled Greek press to call it a new low which was promptly slammed by the two-time WTA titlist.
Sakkari who sealed victory in her Dubai opener over Emma Navarro so will immediately return to the top 10 anyway next week responded to a Greek tennis account, Tennis24 who called it a 'historic low' and Sakkari said that this sort of viewpoint will not see tennis grow in the country.
She added at the end that the account is 'laughable' as she was left not too impressed by the coverage and thought that the remark wasn't that well thought out. Both Sakkari and Tsitsipas have long anchored a country starved of tennis success with both achieving highs of World No.3, a record in their country. Both have reached latter stages of Grand Slam tournaments and in both cases likely should've had chances to seal one.
Both in particular Sakkari have not been in the best form as of late with her win over Emma Navarro in Dubai snapping an eight match losing streak against top 30 players as she aims to build confidence again. She has also ditched long-term coach, Tom Hill who has been with her since 2019 and has been a major part in her success.
"A historic low for Greece in the men's and women's rankings in the last two and a half years. @steftsitsipas and @mariasakkari dropped out of the top 10 both occupying 11th place in #ATPRankings and #WTARankings respectively as of today," the comment on X read (Translated from Greek).
"Did you give this much thought before writing it? Because of this, tennis will not go forward in our country. You are laughable!" she responded on X (Translated from Greek).
Ιστορικό χαμηλό για την Ελλάδα στις κατατάξεις ανδρών και γυναικών, τα τελευταία δυόμιση χρόνια. @steftsitsipas και @mariasakkari βγήκαν εκτός πρώτης 10αδας καταλαμβάνοντας και οι δύο την 11η θέση σε #ATPRankings και #WTARankings αντίστοιχα από σήμερα. #Tsitsipas #Sakkari
Το σκεφτήκατε πολύ αυτό πριν το γράψετε; Για αυτό το τέννις δε θα πάει μπροστά στη χώρα μας. Είστε για γέλια!
