Maria Sakkari has won her first-round match at the Madrid Open, holding off a late charge from Wang Xinyu from 3-0 down in the second set to win 6-4, 7-6(7).
It was her first match after reuniting with former long-time coach Tom Hill and a much-needed boost for her confidence and momentum.
“I need those kinds of wins,” Sakkari said.
“Especially now. My confidence is not the highest that it’s ever been, but that’s fine – I’ve accepted it.
“It’s going to come with confidence.”
Since parting ways with Hill last year, the Greek hasn’t been able to find the success she did with the Brit.
Hill coached her for six-years from 2018, during which Sakkari rose to a Top-10 player. She reached a pair of major semi-finals in 2021, but has never been that deep at a major since.
“I’m super excited,” the former World No.3 said.
“I’m so happy to be back with him. He’s like a brother to me, we have a great relationship.
“He’s an amazing coach and I feel like that one year apart was great for us because we really got to mature and see other things.”
Now ranked No.82, the 29-year-old said she’s not afraid of dropping out of the Top 100 or playing challengers events to rebuild her ranking. She just wants to build confidence again.
“I know that if I don’t play well I might drop outside of the Top 100 and I might not make the Wimbledon main draw,” she said.
“Those things are there and they are always going to be there, it’s fine.
“What I care about right now is just to get my game back and to get myself back.
“What matters is where you finish the year, if that means that I have to go play some challengers and some 125K tournaments, I don’t really care, I will do that – as long as I am where I belong at the end of the year.”
Sakkari next faces 29th seed Magda Linette in the Round of 64.
