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Maria Sakkari

With New Coach David Witt, Will Maria Sakkari Make A Roland Garros Run?

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by Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

While most of the pre-Roland Garros hype in women’s professional tennis has been focused on the two tournament favorites Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka, one should not forget that the unexpected is usually expected on the red brick clay courts of Paris.

One of those who may make one of these annual surprise runs at the French Championships in 2024 is Maria Sakkari.

With new Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) coach David Witt now in her corner, Sakkari could one of those Roland Garros surprises in 2024.

Only three years ago, Sakkari had a match point against eventual champion Barbora Krejcikova in the Roland Garros semifinals (and would have been favored to beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final). She then was favored against the teenage qualifier Emma Raducanu in the U.S. Open semifinals (And would have been favored to be Leylah Fernandez in the final). Both times, she could not get over the hump into her first major final.

Since these two near misses, Sakkari hasn’t been past the fourth round at a major and ended 2023 losing in the first round in Paris, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. She started 2024 by bowing out in the second round of the Australian Open, so the 28-year-old Greek turned to Witt as her coach. Witt was best known for his long-time work with Venus Williams and also helping Jessica Pegula become a regular top 10 player. When they formalized their coach-player relationship in March of 2024, the chemistry was instant – as were the results.

In their first tournament as a team, Sakkari rallied all the way to the final of the BNP Paribas Open, defeating U.S. Open champ Coco Gauff en route before losing to Swiatek. It was immediately apparent that Witt was the secret sauce that Sakkari needed to dip into to add a new robust flavor to her tennis career.

“He’s just very relaxed and very laid back,” Sakkari said in March of Witt. “That’s what I need, because I’m very hard on myself. So I just need someone that doesn’t stress me, and that’s what David does really well. Obviously has incredible experience on the tennis side. But, on the mental side, I just feel like he’s just very, very relaxed. That’s what I really like. He’s so funny that I just enjoy my time with him on and off the court.”

Witt is a Level 2 PTR coach and has been PTR certified since 1998.

In Indian Wells, Sakkari told reporters that Witt has told her to tweek a few things on her serve and return of serve specifically.

“We’ve worked a little bit on the serve, just on my toss,” she said in Indian Wells. “And then on my returns, stepping in a little bit more, because that was something I used to do really well, maybe two, three years ago, and then for some reasons I stopped.”

Paris, Rome and Now Indian Wells…. Iga Swiatek Bags Another Big Title

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by Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

Iga Swiatek from Poland, who burst onto the tennis scene with her remarkable run to the French Open title in the quirky Autumn version in 2020, is fast proving she is ready to embark on a Hall of Fame career.

The 20-year-old from Warsaw added the Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells, California, regarded as one of the biggest titles in tennis outside of the four major championships, beating Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-4, 6-1 in the final. Last year, Swiatek claimed the crown at the Italian Championships in Rome, regarded on the same prestigious level as Indian Wells.

She has played five WTA singles finals in her short career, winning four. If you include her career on the “minor league” ITF World Tennis Tour, she has won 11 of 12 singles finals.

To boot, her Indian Wells title moved her to the No. 2 WTA singles ranking, equaling the highest ranking ever by a player from Poland, equaling that of former Wimbledon finalist Aga Radwanska.

“It’s hard to play in big matches and remain calm but she has it instinctually,” said former world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport on Tennis Channel of the poise of Swiatek, noting that the one match this year she regrets is a semifinal loss at the Australian Open to Danielle Collins.

Despite the final-round loss, the tournament for Sakkari was a success as she also moved to a career-high ranking of No. 3.

Iga Swiatek
Iga Swiatek

Greece Is The Word As Tsitsipas, Sakkari Win Titles – Mondays with Bob Greene

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Mondays with Bob Greene

 

STARS

Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Pablo Cuevas 6-3 7-6 (4) to win the Millennium Estoril Open in Estoril, Portugal

Cristian Garin beat Matteo Berrettini 6-1 3-6 7-6 (1) to win the BMW Open by FWU in Munich, Germany

Maria Sakkari beat Johanna Konta 2-6 6-4 6-1 to win the Grand Prix De SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Rabat, Morocco

Jil Teichmann beat Karolina Muchova 7-6 (5) 3-6 6-4 to win the J&T Banka Prague Open in Prague, Czech Republic

Sebastian Ofner beat John-Patrick Smith 7-6 (8) 3-6 6-3 to win the Puerta Vallarta Open in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico

Lucas Pouille beat Mikael Ymer 6-3 6-3 to win the BNP Paribas Primrose in Bordeaux, France

Soonwoo Kwon beat Max Purcell 7-5 7-5 to win the Vitro Seoul Open Challenger

Taylor Townsend beat Whitney Osuigwe 6-4 6-4 to win the Live To Play in Charleston, South Carolina

 

SAYINGS

“You really have to fight hard and give your soul out on the court.” – Stefanos Tsitsipas, who did just that to capture the Estoril, Portugal, title.

“I’m so excited right now. It’s amazing. I cannot believe it, so I’m very happy.” – Cristian Garin, following a remarkable week that brought him the title in Munich, his second trophy of the year.

“I knew it was going to be a battle, but in the end, one has to win.” – Jil Teichmann, after beating Karolina Muchova in capturing the J&T Banka Prague Open.

“Whenever you’re down 8-3 and then two match points, you’re sort of half on the way home already. Just to still be here was a bonus, and then winning the title is a huge bonus.” – Tim Puetz, who with teammate Frederik Nielsen trailed 8-3 in a third-set tiebreak before winning their semifinal, then going on to capture the doubles title in Munich.

“Everything is going against me at the moment, nothing is going in my favor.” – Alexander Zverev, after losing to Cristian Garin and ending his hopes of a record third straight title in Munich.

“I’ve been working hard. I’m trying to play every point. I’m trying to fight every point in the match and I think to be a good player I’ve been working a lot on my mentality and fighting experience, so I think that makes me win a lot of matches.” – Cristian Garin, following his winning the Munich title.

“We used to have such big fights in the past, in three sets, playing three hours. Today, I’m very sorry for her that she feels her back is painful. I know how it feels, and I know it’s bad, and I just hope that she’s going to get well very soon.” – Alizé Cornet, after her Madrid opponent, Caroline Wozniacki, retired with a lower back injury just three games into the match.

“When I was wrong, and I was wrong, I paid the consequences. But I always stayed myself. I worked, I kept forward. You make mistakes and I had to learn to accept them. Then you change, you grow. In the Monte Carlo week, I think I showed that.” – Fabio Fognini, explaining why he won Monte-Carlo.

“French Open is my goal, I am not afraid of saying that. Winning the French Open would be a miracle, but miracles exist, we already saw that in sports. Beating Rafa Nadal in the French Open final, yeah, that’s a miracle! But I believe in that.” – Gael Monfils, in an interview with Paris sports newspaper L’Equipe.

“You need to move good on clay, it’s just a different game. You need to be a little bit more patient, which I was not before. So, I tried to use different types of games, different spin. We’re working on that and I think it can only help.” – Karolina Pliskova, who has elevated Conchita Martinez to be her fulltime coach.

“It has become clear that I need to take a step back – for the good of the players, the game and for myself.” – Justin Gimelstob, resigning his post on the ATP board of directors after pleading no contest to charges that he assaulting a former friend.

 

STRONG CLAY PERFORMANCE

Stefanos Tsitsipas proved to be solid from the baseline as he won his first clay-court title with a straight-set victory over Pablo Cuevas. “This title means a lot to me,” the 20-year-old Greek said after winning the Millennium Estoril Open. “It’s on clay, it’s one of my preferred surfaces.” Cuevas had problems serving, and Tsitsipas took advantage. The winner repeatedly ran around his backhand to start points with deep forehands. Tsitsipas dominated the first set and a half before the 33-year-old Cuevas was able to make a charge. Cuevas won nine consecutive points and reached a set point at 4-5 before Tsitsipas sent the second set into a tiebreak, where he won six of the first seven points. “I was very calm. I stayed aggressive, stayed motivated, didn’t think too much,” the winner said. He didn’t get into my head after he broke me back in the second set. That was kind of frustrating, but I kept fighting, kept believing that I can still win it in two sets.” It was the third ATP title for the Greek, whose previous titles had come on indoor hard courts, in Marseille, France, and Stockholm, Sweden.

 

SECOND TITLE

Prior to this year, Chile’s Cristian Garin had won just one ATP Tour match – and that was in 2013. At Munich. the 22-year-old won his second title of 2019 with a remarkable run, giving him his 19th clay-court victory of the year and tying him with Guido Pella for the ATP Tour surface lead.  “Of course, I need to keep improving. This is just the beginning,” Garin said after defeating Italy’s Matteo Berrettini for the BMW Open title. “This is just my first year playing ATP (Tour events fulltime), so I need to improve a lot. I’ve been working hard, so this is a reward from that.” Garin wasn’t an un known entering Munich. After all, he won Houston and reached the final in Sao Paulo, where he lost to Pella. Still, he was a surprise when he saved two match points when he knocked off two-time defending Munich champion Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals. Against Berrettini, Garin won the third-set tiebreak 7-1, continuing his clutch performances. This year, the Chilean has won eight of his nine deciding sets, including all three of his final-set tiebreaks. Berrettini had his nine-match winning streak snapped. “I’m kind of sad because I lost, but I did my best,” Berrettini said. “I did everything (I could) and I left everything on the court.”

 

STREAKING SAKKARI

Facing defeat, sixth-seeded Maria Sakkari won 10 of the final 11 games to capture her first WTA title at the Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem. The trophy capped a week that saw the Greek player claim victories over top-seeded and defending champion Elise Mertens, eighth-seeded Alison Van Uytvanck, and, in the final, Johanna Konta. It was Konta who dictated play at the beginning, going up a set and a break. Then, with Konta showing some fatigue, Sakkari picked up her game, winning the last four games to knot the match at a set apiece, then dominated the third set before collapsing to the ground in joy. Despite the loss, Konta was also pleased with her week. It was the first time Konta has won more than two main draw wins in a row on clay in her career.

 

SWISS SURPRISE

In a nearly three-hour battle of first-time WTA finalists, qualifier Jil Teichmann of Switzerland overcame wildcard Czech Karolina Muchova to win the J&T Banka Prague Open. “I’m just speechless, honestly,” Teichmann said. “I just fought and fought. It was a great battle and I’m just relieved that it’s done.” Until the title run, Teichmann had never reached a WTA quarterfinal. She becomes the first qualifier to win the Prague title. Teichmann needed six set points to win the first set, then twice rallied from a break down in the decider, winning four of the last five games. “I’m exhausted, but Kaja played a great match as well,” Teichmann said.

 

SHOCKER

Those surprising losses keep coming Alexander Zverev’s way. The German was upset 6-4 5-7 7-5 by Cristian Garin of Chile in the quarterfinals of the Munich Open. “Everything is going against me at the moment, nothing is going in my favor,” Zverev said. “Last year I won matches like this, but this year I am often losing them.” The top seed, Zverev had two match points in the third set. On the first one, Zverev disputed a line call, then came within a whisker of capturing the match on his second. “I thought the ball was out on the first one, and then it was out only by a few inches on the second one,” said Zverev, who was seeking his third consecutive Munich Open title.

 

STOPPED BY INJURY

Caroline Wozniacki lasted only three games in this week’s Mutua Madrid Open. A lower back injury forced the 11th-seeded Wozniacki to retire while trailing Alizé Cornet of France 3-0. Wozniacki, who walked onto the court with her left leg wrapped. received a medical timeout at the first changeover. She then left the court. “It was still the very beginning of the match, s anything could happen if she wasn’t injured,” Cornet said. “I don’t consider it like a real win over Caroline.”

 

SHE’S BACK

Serena Williams, who has not played since withdrawing from her third-round match at the Miami Open in March, will be seeking her fifth Italian Open title later this month. Tournament director Sergio Palmieri said Williams “has already reserved her rooms and should be here a few days early.” In her last appearance in Rome in 2016, Williams won the clay-court event for the fourth time, beating Madison Keys in the final. Venus Williams, who won in 1999, and former world number one Victoria Azarenka received wild cards to the May 13-19 event.

 

SWISH SERVE

When Reilly Opelka served his fifth ace of the match, his opponent, Gael Monfils, could only laugh. Playing in the Millennium Estoril Open, the 21-year-old Opelka’s serve landed in the middle of the service box and appeared to be heading towards Monfils. Instead, a strong gust of wind blew the ball away from the Frenchman, who lunged for it but failed to reach the ball. Laughing, Monfils gave a “thumbs up” to Opelka before going on to win the match 3-6 6-3 6-0.

 

SWITCHING COACHES

Former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez is now the full-time coach for Karolina Pliskova, who is no longer working with Rennae Stubbs. “I had the chance to work with the both of them for a while and I think there were good things and bad things about changing the weeks,” Pliskova said. “So, I decided to work with Conchi only because I like the work, so there’s no reason why I should have somebody else on the team.” Currently ranked fifth in the world, Pliskova split with her coach Tomas Krupa after Wimbledon last summer. That’s when she brought on both Stubbs and Martinez.

 

SLOANE’S BUSY WEEK

For not playing a tournament, Sloane Stephens had a very busy week. First, the 2017 US Open champion announced she and soccer star Jozy Altidore are engaged. A player on the USA Men’s national soccer team and on Toronto FC, Altidore revealed he and Stephens have known each other since the fifth grade. “She is somebody who gets everything I am going through without having to say anything,” Altidore told USA Today. “You look at each other and you kind of know right away if one of you is annoyed. She just kind of gets the mood I’m in, as obviously she lives a very similar kind of life.”

Sloane followed that by announcing Sven Groeneveld has joined her coaching team. Groeneveld was Maria Sharapova’s coach when she won the French Open in 2014 and worked with the Russian until last March. He also has worked with Monic Seles, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Mary Pierce, Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic. Stephens previously worked with Kamau Murray.

 

STEPPING DOWN

After pleading no contest to felony battery charges, Justin Gimelstob resigned from his post on the ATP’s board of directors. “I’m heartbroken to walk away from something I love so much, but given the current climate I do not deserve to be in this position of influence,” Gimelstob said in a Facebook post. The 42-year-old American was accused of attacking a former friend, Randall Kaplan. “My job was to best represent the players, the ATP and be a custodian of the sport,” Gimelstob said. “My choices and actions last Halloween night prohibit me from doing that at this time.” Several players and former players – including Stan Wawrinka, Andy Murray, Pat Cash and Martina Navratilova – had called for Cash to leave the board.

Brad Gilbert, a former player best known for his book “Winning Ugly,” coaching Andre Agassi and as a television commentator, announced he is a candidate to replace Justin Gimelstob on the ATP board of directors.

 

SKIPPING ROME

Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the Italian Open, a tournament she has won three times. A five-time Grand Slam tournament winner, Sharapova has not played since pulling out of a tournament in St. Petersburg, Russia, in late January. In February, the Russian said she had undergone a “small procedure” on her right shoulder that would need a few weeks to heal. She added that she has suffered shoulder pain caused by a fraying tendon and small labrum tear since midway through last year. Sharapova won the Rome clay-court tournament in 2011, 2012 and 2015.

 

STAYING HOME

Frenchman Jo Wilfried Tsonga will not be playing in the Madrid Masters. The 34-year-old Tsonga played 10 straight years in the Spanish tournament before missing last year after undergoing knee surgery. Once ranked as high as fifth in the world, Tsonga currently is ranked outside the Top 100. He has missed several tournaments this year because of his sickle-cell anemia.

 

STRAIGHT TO THE BANK

Prize money at this year’s Wimbledon will rise 11.8 percent from last year. The All England Club announced this year’ prize money will total 38 million pounds (USD $49 million), with the men’s and women’s singles champions each receiving 2.35 million pounds, 100,000 pounds (USD $112,000) more than last year. Wimbledon begins on July 1.

 

SWITCH IN NAMES

The ATP Challenger event in Glasgow, Scotland, is being renamed to honor the Murray family. In 2015, brothers Andy and Jamie Murray led Great Britain to its first Davis Cup title in 79 years, while their mother, Judy, is a coach and former captain of Great Britain’s Fed Cup team. “I’m excited to be working with the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) and Glasgow Life on this event and honored to have it named in recognition of my family’s achievements in the sport,” said Jamie Murray, the first British player to be ranked number one in the world in the Open Era. He was ranked number one in doubles in April 2016, seven months before Andy reached number one in the world in singles. “I really hope we can use the Murray Trophy-Glasgow to increase awareness of tennis and create opportunities for more boys and girls to play, both in Scotland and Britain as a whole,” Jamie said.

 

SUSPENDED

An Egyptian tennis player has been found guilty of match-fixing by the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU). An anti-corruption hearing officer ruled that 29-year-old Issam Taweel tried to fix the outcome of a match, failed to report being approached about engaging in fixing and failed to report knowing or suspecting that someone else covered by the sport’s rules was involved in corrupt activity. Taweel is suspended provisionally and banned from competing in or attending any sanctioned tennis event. Taweel does not have an ATP ranking and is ranked 1,175th on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) World Tennis Tour.

 

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Bordeaux: Gregoire Barrere and Quentin Halys beat Romain Ameodo and Hugo Nys 6-4 6-1

Charleston: Asia Muhammad and Taylor Townsend beat Madison Brengle and Lauren Davis 6-2 6-2

Estoril: Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin beat Luke Bambridge and Johnny O’Mara 7-5 7-6 (3)

Munich: Frederick Nielsen and Tim Puetz beat Marcelo Demoliner and Divij Sharan 6-4 6-2

Prague: Anna Kalinskaya and Viktoria Kuzmova beat Nicole Melichar and Kveta Peschke 4-6 7-5 10-7 (match tiebreak)

Puerta Vallarta: Matt Reid and John-Patrick Smith beat Gonzalo Escobar and Luis David Martinez 7-6 (10) 6-3

Rabat: Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and Sara Sorribes Tormo beat Georgina Garcia Perez and Oksana Kalashnikova 7-5 6-1

Seoul: Max Purcell and Luke Saville beat Ruben Bemelmans and Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-4 7-6 (7)

 

SURFING

Madrid: https://www.madrid-open.com/

Busan: http://www..bsta.kr/

Aix En Provence: https://www.openpaysdaixcepac.com/

Bonita Springs: www.bbcusta.net

Rome: https://www.internazionalibnlditalia.com/

Heilbronn: https://www.neckarcup.de/de/home.html

Trnava: www.tcempire.sk

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

 

MEN

$8,110,130 Mutua Madrid Open, Madrid, Spain, clay

$162,480 Busan Open Challenger, Busan, Korea, hard

$153,261 Open du Pays d’Aix, Aix En Provence, France, clay

 

WOMEN

$7,021,128 Mutua Madrid Open, Madrid, Spain, clay

$100,000 FineMark Women’s Pro Tennis Championship, Bonita Springs, Florida, USA, clay

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

 

MEN

$6,484,260 Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Rome, Italy, clay

$103,054 Neckarcup, Heilbronn, Germany, clay

 

WOMEN

$3,452,538 Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Rome, Italy, clay

$100,000 Empire Slovak Open, Trnava, Slovakia, clay

 

Sakkari and Tsitsipas
Sakkari and Tsitsipas