“I had one of the toughest draws,” Maria Sakkari reaches her second Grandslam semifinal at US Open 2021

“I had one of the toughest draws,” Maria Sakkari reaches her second Grandslam semifinal at US Open 2021

Maria Sakkari

Maria Sakkari continued her dominating run at US Open 2021, as she stormed past the fourth seed, Karolina Pliskova in straight sets in the quarterfinals. The Greek reached her second Grandslam semifinal of the year, after she made it to the last four at French Open 2021.

Maria Sakkari stated that she felt she could reach the semifinals of a major again, after she made it to the last four at French Open 2021. She believes that it was not luck, but her hard work that helped her to reach so far.

“After reaching my first Grand Slam semifinal at the French, I felt like I can do it again. It was not luck because I beat all these good players,” Sakkari said.

FS Video

Maria Sakkari added that she believes she got one of the toughest draws in the competition, facing Sloane Stephens, Bianca Andreescu and Petra Kvitova prior to the quarterfinals.

“Now I think I had one of the toughest draws, to be deadly honest. I think Sloane had a tougher draw than me. But Kostyuk, Siniakova, Kvitova, Andreescu, Pliskova, all these players are players I don’t want to play in the first rounds,” she said.

“Going deep, you won’t have it easy. I had to play really well to be here. That gives me a lot of confidence because I beat some very, very good players to reach the semifinals this time. I’m actually feeling really well. I don’t want to jinx it,” she added.

Emma Raducanu is having the time of her life: Maria Sakkari

YouTube video

Maria Sakkari will lock horns against the British teenage sensation, Emma Raducanu in the semifinals. The Greek stated that she does not know much about her, given that she is relatively new to the tour.

“She’s a new player on tour so I don’t know much about her. Obviously she’s having the tournament of her life. She deserves to be here. She has won all these matches,” she added.

Maria Sakkari believes that she is not the favorite to claim the title, and all four semi-finalists have equal chances. The Greek stated that she was excited to play her second Grandslam semifinal of the year.

“But I wouldn’t call myself the favorite. I think we all have equal chances of winning the semifinals and then winning the title. I would give 25% to each starting tomorrow, then 50 to the two finalists. We are all for a reason here. We’re all playing well. It was not like we had five walkovers. I’m excited to play a second semifinal this year,” she added.

Also Read: ‘I am used to death threats and abuses, but I wish social media didn’t exist,’ says Shelby Rogers