Maria Sakkari is looking forward to representing Greece at the United Cup and teaming up again with Stefanos Tsitsipas. Sakkari, 27, and 24-year-old Tsitsipas will lead Greece at the inaugural ATP Cup – a mixed team event that is set to take place in Australia between 29 December – 08 January.
Greece was placed in Group A along with Bulgaria and Belgium. “I think it’s huge to have me and Stefanos representing Greece. I think it’s very exciting to team up with him again. To play against top guys and girls, it’s very good for tennis in general,” Sakkari said.
Sakkari has played mixed doubles only with Tsitsipas
Sakkari has played mixed doubles just twice – at the 2019 Hopman Cup and Tokyo Olympics. Both times Sakkari teamed up with Tsitsipas as in 2019 they famously defeated Belinda Bencic and Roger Federer Federer.
Going into the 2023 season, Sakkari will certainly be looking to make a strong result with Greece at the United Cup. After her 2022 season was over, Sakkari reflected on the challenges and adversity she faced this year. At the WTA Finals, Sakkari opened up about the warning Angelique Kerber gave her at the start of the 2022 season.
“When you first break into the top-10, and you first finish your season, I think the next season is the toughest one. Actually, Kerber went up to (my coach) Tom because we practiced at the Australian Open, and she was like good luck this season.
It’s gonna be the toughest one. When she first finished top-10, her next season she finished around 10 in the world. So we had a warning. Obviously, I didn’t know it was gonna be that tough. But again, there are so many things that went wrong this year, but at the same time, I managed to get myself in the right direction. And I’m proud that I could finish the year in the top-10 and being one of the best players,” Sakkari said.
