"When you prove all these people wrong, it's fuel. For me, it worked as fuel," Sakkari echoes Coco Gauff on hate messages on social media.

Monday, 25 September 2023 at 19:00

Maria Sakkari revealed that she was inspired by Coco Gauff to win the WTA 1000 Guadalajara Open title after receiving hate messages.

Former world No. 3 completed the best week of her career by clinching the second trophy of her career, her first in the WTA 1000 category. Maria Sakkari put behind her six losses in finals and 24 in semifinals, advancing three positions to world No. 6.

In the final, she faced the tournament's surprise, Caroline Doleheide, who was outside the top 100 and reached her first WTA tournament final. Sakkari, who didn't drop a set during the tournament, recalled Coco Gauff's words after winning the US Open:

“About how other people have bigger problems than we have when we lose a tennis match, and she's spot on. I kept thinking about that, and that gave me strength,” she said.

“I really liked what Coco said at the US Open,” Sakkari added,

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In her speech at the trophy presentation ceremony, Gauff reflected on the negative comments she receives on social media:

“We live in 2023. Social media is a part of our everyday life. You cannot avoid it,” Gauff said.

“Coco said she knows the user names. I know them too. I know the person with a YouTube channel who posts all my semi-final losses, all my final losses. I'm aware. The satisfaction now, I cannot describe it. When you prove all these people wrong, it's fuel. For me, it worked as fuel. I knew it was going to come, I didn't know when. Thank you to them. They gave me strength,” Sakkari commented about Gauff feelings.

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“We’ve waited more than four years for a second title,” she said while thanking her coach Tom Hill.

“We’ve heard so many bad things that I will never win a title, that I’m a top five player with only winning one title. That was very hard for me to overcome and I’m so happy I did it here this week.”

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Maria Sakkari says she got strength from Coco Gauff’s statement at US Open ‘Playing tennis isn’t real pressure compared to people struggling to feed their families’: “I really liked what Coco Gauff said at the US Open, about how other people have bigger problems than we have

3:15 PM · Sep 24, 2023

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Cristhián AvilaTennis Journalist

Cristhián Ávila is a tennis journalist based in Santiago, Chile, and has been part of the TennisUpToDate team since early 2023. He covers the ATP and WTA Tours as well as all four Grand Slams, producing breaking news, match reports, analysis, and regular liveblogs from major tournaments.

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