Maria Sakkari has made a pact with members of her team, which now includes a familiar face in Tom Hill, who has reunited with the Greek 14 months after they ended their six-year coaching relationship.
Sakkari, Hill, and the rest of their crew will each, separately, write down a number on a piece of paper and keep it to themselves. At the conclusion of the season, they will see which number is closest to her year-end ranking.
A former world No.3, Sakkari has dropped down the charts to her current position of 82 in the world due to a shoulder injury that saw her shut down her season after last year’s US Open in September.
The decision to step away from the tour for a few months was a difficult one – “huge” is how Sakkari described it. And while it had a negative effect on her ranking, it was positive in every other way.
“I keep saying to people that are around me that I’m happier now, even though I’m 89th in the world (in the live rankings) than I was when I was three,” Sakkari told mutuamadridopen.com this week at the Caja Magica.
“Because I feel like those months that I was away, I worked on myself. I worked on myself on not caring that the other players are in Asia or they’re playing the Finals and I’m not there.
“I’m just super happy to be back on the tour. And that’s going to give me a lot of strength for the next few years.”
Sakkari played her best match of the year against 29th-seeded Magda Linette on Friday, to storm into the third round of the Mutua Madrid Open with a 7-6(5), 6-3 result.
“I think the level was very high for the entire match. I stepped it up in the second set and I’m just happy that I found the strength, I found the power and everything just to play my game the way I used to play and see a little bit the Maria from before,” said the 29-year-old.
Her reward is a clash with sixth-seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini, who eased past Britain’s Katie Boulter 6-1, 6-2.
Sakkari is 0-6 against top-10 opponents this season, but is feeling confident heading into her meeting with Paolini as her form continues to trend in the right direction.
“I feel like my game is back on track,” she added.
“Obviously, if I want to beat those players, no matter what round it is, I have to play like today, and even better. I know how they feel playing me, because I’ve been there. I might have a big number next to my name but I know they respect me as a player. So it’s going to be tough both ways.”
Reuniting with Hill was “meant to be”, according to Sakkari.
Since they parted ways in February 2024, the Greek worked with David Witt, Sergi Bruguera, and most recently Raemon Sluiter, who had to end their coaching partnership for personal reasons.
Meanwhile, Hill had a stint coaching American Peyton Stearns.
“The thing is that obviously we know how confident we are with each other. We believe that our work together is very unique. Our relationship is very unique,” said Sakkari of Hill, who first started coaching her in 2018.
“I feel like he’s a brother to me. And I just… On the court, off the court, I feel like we want the same things. We want me to get back to where I was and to achieve more things than I did in the past.
“He believes in me like no one else, and I feel like it was meant to be, because obviously he stopped with Peyton, and then I was looking for a coach, as Raemon, for personal reasons and very respectfully, of course, he didn’t want to do this job anymore. So, yeah, I was like, things are meant to be.”
Sakkari explained that even when they were parting ways last season, she and Hill both felt they could be back together as a team in a year’s time.
“Which was spot on. It was a year and a couple of months,” added Sakkari with a smile.
“I think that year apart really helped both of us. I see a more mature self. Actually myself, I’m more mature, with the injury, with everything.
“I see Tom more developed in everything, which I’m so happy and so excited to see. And I think that one year was very important to us.”
So what are those common goals she and Hill have set for the year?
“We haven’t really spoken about numbers. I’ll send you a picture at the end of the season,” she said, referring to the ranking pact they made.
“So we’ll do that. And I just feel like now the main focus is just getting my game in place. Just finding my identity again and now focusing on the clay and then see what’s next.”
