"What she has achieved, everyone knows she's amazing": Maria Sakkari shares admiration for Martina Navratilova

Maria Sakkari (No. 9) expressed her admiration for tennis legend Martina Navratilova after another victory at Indian Wells. The Greek player is having her best tournament of the season so far after some inconsistent months that saw her drop out of the top 10 a couple of weeks ago.

Despite entering as the 9th seed, Sakkari probably wasn't one of the favorites to advance many rounds, as she hadn't won consecutive matches since the China Open in October 2023, where she fell in the quarterfinals to Coco Gauff after defeating Linda Fruhvirtova and Xinyu Wang.

Sakkari is enjoying her good form at Tennis Paradise and was seen sharing a joyful moment with the 18-times Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova a few days ago. In a press conference after defeating Diane Parry (6-2, 3-6, 6-3), Sakkari was asked about her relationship with the former world No. 1:

“You know, I admire [Navratilova] so much," Maria Sakkari said. "She's a very cool person. What she has achieved, I'm not even going to mention, because it's pointless right now. Everyone knows she's amazing," the former world No. 3 added.

"I just feel like having [Martina Navratilova] around, and she gave me a couple of tips back in the day. It's nice, because she really cares about us, and cares about women's tennis," Maria Sakkari claimed.

The 28-year-old tennis player also praised Chris Evert, Navratilova's greatest rival during their careers, who also boasts 18 Grand Slam titles: "Yeah, it's nice to have her around. [Evert], as well. All of the legends that are involved are, you know, very, very good people above everything," she added.

Sakkari's next challenge will be against the surprising Emma Navarro (23rd seed), who quietly reached her first WTA 1000 quarterfinals and recorded notable victories over the 16th seed Elina Svitolina and none other than the world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka.