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Andy Murray's former coach Mark Petchey unloaded on Maria Sakkari's critics as he believes "keyboard warriors" need to put more respect on Sakkari's name. This past week in Doha, Sakkari reached the semifinal before second-seeded Jessica Pegula handed her a 6-2 4-6 6-1 loss.
A week earlier, Sakkari was also a semifinalist in Linz - her campaign ended with a loss to Petra Martic. After losing again in the semifinal stage of a tournament, some decided to go criticize Sakkari instead of praising her deep run.
One tennis fan sent out a tweet supporting Sakkari: "People here are joking way too much about Maria Sakkari. She’s fighting every damn weeks, always reaching QFs, SFs, Fs. Regularity is also something we should credit.
I really hope something big is coming for her, because she’s deserves it."
Petchey defends Sakkari: What she has done is unbelievable
Petchey noticed the tweet and sent more support toward Sakkari's way: "@mariasakkari is doing everything to be the best she can.
From where she has come from as a junior to now is unbelievable. F------ embarrassing what people who know nothing about her say. The keyboard warriors should get in the ring and see how good they f------ are at this sport."
Meanwhile, Sakkari is 11-4 at the start of the 2023 season.@mariasakkari is doing everything to be the best she can.
From where she has come from as a junior to now is unbelievable. Fucking embarrassing what people who know nothing about her say. The keyboard warriors should get in the ring and see how good they fucking are at this sport — Mark Petchey (@_markpetchey) February 17, 2023
After Doha, Sakkari is set to compete in Dubai. In Dubai, Sakkari is the sixth-seeded player and has a first-round bye at the tournament. After a first-round bye, Sakkari will play against the winner of the match between Karolina Pliskova and Marketa Vondrousova.
Sakkari, 27, is set to make her third main draw appearance in Dubai. In her first two main draw appearances in Dubai, Sakkari didn't have much success as she picked up back-to-back first-round exits at the tournament in 2020 and 2021.
Since Sakkari has a first-round bye in Dubai, it means she has already been through to the Dubai second round for the first time in her career. It remains to be seen how well can Sakkari do in Dubai.