WTA Linz: Maria Sakkari is looking forward to the premiere
Maria Sakkari came, saw and took everyone's hearts by storm! The 27-year-old Greek has impressed with her refreshing naturalness since arriving on Saturday afternoon and is looking forward to her debut at Upper Austria Ladies Linz! Sakkari is seeded number one in the women's tennis classic and meets the Spaniard Nuria Parrizas Diaz this Tuesday.
by p.m
last edit: Feb 06, 2023, 10:59 pm
Tournament director Sandra Reichel is convinced that Maria Sakkari will also enchant the tennis fans in the Linz Design Center. "Because Maria is a player who gets under the skin of the fans, she has a very special charisma," says Reichel about the current number seven in the world, who not only makes headlines on center court, but especially in her Greek homeland .
Maria's charm has not gone unnoticed even by a famous Greek - the world-class player is in a relationship with Konstantinos Mitsotakis, the son of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis! When she arrived in Linz, she also revealed that she prefers to eat Wiener Schnitzel. On Sunday evening she went to a Linz tavern together with tournament ambassador Barbara Schett: “I had a great dinner last night in a traditional Austrian restaurant. When traveling to new places, it is very important to get to know the culture of the city and country. I just had a schnitzel and it was great."
She also revealed that Alexander "AJ" Ginnis is a "good friend" of hers. "I was really happy for him that he was the first Greek to win a podium finish in the Ski World Cup," said Sakkari, who "liked to ski" as a child. Her best time in the 100m sprint is 12.5 seconds.
Sakkari out injured, Gauff wins tournament
Sakkari was already in Linz in 2019, had attended the Players' Party under the motto "Golden Girls", but then had to cancel due to a wrist injury. "It's a shame I couldn't play in 2019. But I was happy for Coco Gauff because she slipped in as a lucky loser for me and then won her first title.”
This year she does not want to leave the Linz WTA tournament prematurely, but with a trophy in her hand.
“I am very happy to finally be able to make my debut here! What I want to achieve here is what everyone wants to achieve, which is to leave the tournament with the trophy. That's my goal, but at the same time it's a very high-quality and balanced field."
In general, Maria Sakkari has set herself high goals. She wants to finish the 2023 game year in the top five and then get back to where she was before (March 2022) - third in the world rankings.