Maria Sakkari will be entering the 2024 Australian Open in strong form, sitting No.8 in the WTA rankings and having won the Guadalajara Open in Mexico last September.
The win also snapped a six-match losing streak in tour-level finals and marked her first WTA 1000 title, becoming the first ever Greek female tennis player to do so.
Prior to that the 28-year-old lived through a challenging 2023, one that is explored in Netflix’s second season of Break Point, which premiered on Wednesday.
During her press conference following an early exit at last year’s US Open, the world No.3 broke down in tears, evident that she was struggling mentally with playing at the highest level.
In the documentary’s raw footage, Sakkari is seen talking to Anett Kontaveit, who was forced into early retirement at 27, due to injury, as the pair practice at Wimbledon.
They speak about the Estonian’s decision to quit tennis and then footage cuts to Sakkari talking about her own anxiety as she ponders whether her life would be better away from tennis.
She began by saying tennis is a “brutal sport” and reflected on her top ranking.
“Last year (2022), everything was going great. Getting to No 3 (in the rankings), but then there was a decline. I lost my mind a little bit,” she said.
“It came so fast. Just the idea of being that close to being world No 1. I was not ready for it.
“Then I just started getting all of these panic attacks and there were just matches that I couldn’t breathe.”
Sakkari then explained how she thought she was going to faint, saying it wasn’t a pleasant feeling.
“I was in a dark place for six months. I was just mentally and emotionally empty. I was scared stepping on the court.”
“I have all these people saying that when I get to the later stages of a tournament, I’m guaranteed to lose. That gets in your head. Because of this, I’ve had many tough moments.”
All these thoughts led to the Athens born athlete to consider quitting the sport altogether.
“I see myself and I don’t like what I see,” she continued. “Sometimes I feel like I want to end my career, but I don’t feel like I have achieved everything that I wanted to.
“I am not ready to finish my career because if I chose to do something else, I wouldn’t feel the same way. But if I keep losing… maybe it’s just not working.
“For me it was disappointing. There were times when I could not deliver that fighting spirit. It has been killing me inside.
“I don’t want to play tennis forever. Maybe I should just quit.”
Following a tough loss to Marta Kostyuk at Wimbledon, one where she got to a fiery start, winning the first set 6-0, Sakkari is seen talking to her coaching team.
A tearful Sakkari tells her team that while they are looking for excuses, the don’t see that she is the problem (at least in her own eyes).
Later in the episode she revealed how she overcame her first-round loss at Wimbledon and tried to rebuild her confidence.
“I just gave time to myself and went back to basics. I started working with my psychologist. She really, really helped me not to focus on negative things.”
“I know that I don’t deserve social media and hate messages, so I’m not going to waste my time and energy thinking about it. Spending time with my family is much more important for me.
“I cannot be afraid of failure right now. I know whatever your age you can improve and we always have opportunities to get better. We are not done yet.”
The episode concludes with Sakkari bouncing back in style as she wins the WTA 1000 event in Guadalajara.
