Sakkari open after shock defeat to Zhu Lin at Australian Open: "I started the match defensive and just being scared"

Maria Sakkari lamented the fact that she started the match too defensively and overall scared blaming that on the shocking defeat to Lin Zhu.

Sakkari did not want to exit the Australian Open as early as she did but she paid the price of some choices that were clearly the wrong ones. Zhu is a very aggressive player who likes to attack and she was happy when Sakkari elected to give her the chance to do so. Sakkari didn't play well but taking the match out of her hands early didn't help:

"I think that my level was not good at all. I started the match by being very defensive and very, like, not hitting the ball, just being scared of playing my game. You know, the other girl, she had basically nothing to lose. She was playing free. She was enjoying herself. She was playing very, very good."

Sakkari further commented on her opponent:

I've never seen her playing that well, to be honest. Of course, beating Jil in the round up before, and I didn't remember her moving that well as she did today."