Sakkari in Hong Kong: “I don’t want to be obsessed with the ranking”

Maria Sakkari remembers every detail of her last visit to Hong Kong. In 2016, she had just cracked the top 100 when the draw sent her into a stadium to face top seed Angelique Kerber. She lost 6-4, 6-4. A decade later, the Greek is back at the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open as fourth seed, and she believes the player who returns is better than the one who climbed into the world’s top 10.

“I feel like my game is developing and my game is better than it probably was before,” Sakkari said. “But I still feel like I need a few more good wins and a few more opportunities to see myself playing on that high level again.”

The former WTA Finals regular, now ranked No. 30, has spent 2026 away from the ranking she once held, and she says she has stopped checking it. “It’s tough because I always feel like I want to get back to where I was,” she said. “But I also don’t want to be obsessed with looking at the ranking every single week right now. I’m just very happy with the way I’m playing, and the way I’m just handling every match.”

The number still matters for one practical reason. “It’s only important to get into tournaments and probably be seeded in most of them,” she said. “But other than that, it’s amazing to be doing what I’m doing today.”

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Sakkari back in Hong Kong, ten years after Kerber

Her 10-year absence from Hong Kong came down to the schedule. “The calendar played a little bit differently, so I didn’t have the opportunity, as it didn’t fit my schedule,” Sakkari said. “But I felt like this year was a great time to come back, especially after getting all that amazing feedback from the rest of the players, especially about the food. I just felt like it’s a great opportunity to come back and see Hong Kong once again and play in front of this crowd.”

The 2016 match against Kerber stays with her. “My game style has changed quite a bit,” she said. “I remember I came here and I played Kerber. She was either a top five or top ten player back then, and I just cracked the top hundred. For me, it was playing one of the legends of the game, and that was probably one of the first times I played in a stadium like that, so it was a great opportunity back then.”

“But a lot, a lot of things have changed,” she added. “I’ve played some of my best tennis up until today, and I’m very proud if I think of where I was ten years ago and where I am today.”

Sakkari’s draw in Hong Kong

Sakkari opens against a qualifier, with fifth seed Talia Gibson the biggest name in her section before a possible semifinal against second seed Alexandra Eala.