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Maria Sakkari revealed there were some weeks last year when she struggled to the point that she just could not and did not want to be on the court competing. The first time Sakkari felt that way happened during the clay season in Madrid, where she won her first-round match before losing to Madison Keys in her following match.
After the US Open, Sakkari again felt that way as she picked up a first-round exit in San Diego. "Yeah. I mean, last year there were a couple of weeks, maybe more. One of them was San Jose, I just couldn't be on the court. I wanted, but I couldn't.
It's not like I was going on the court to tank the match. I didn't want to be there. It's just I couldn't. Madrid I was also struggling big time. I mean, there were a few, yes, and I'm a human being. I think I'm allowed also to have those weeks," Sakkari said, per Sportskeeda.
Sakkari retired from tennis four days
In the first season of Netflix's tennis documentary Break Point, Sakkari revealed that in 2021 she retired for four days. In the 2021 French Open semifinal, Sakkari suffered a three-set defeat to Barbora Krejcikova.
At the time, Sakkari was reaching the latter stages of tournaments but would often fall short in the semifinal stages. “I was struggling because I could see the finish line, but then I couldn’t win the match. My mind would go so far that I couldn’t close it out.
I was too excited. I was nearly there, but not there at the same time. I just didn’t know how to handle that situation. I couldn’t sleep for three days. I was just lying in bed and trying to sleep, but I was so nervous and so sad.
It was tough for me to handle, and I told my coaches that I want to retire from tennis. I retired for four days. I was on a Greek island, and I said, ‘Okay, when can we start practicing again? I’m coming back from retirement.’ That’s what we’ve been calling it," Sakkari revealed in Break Point.