"Is this the beginning of the end for Maria Sakkari" - Fans concerned as Greek's decline continues with Charleston exit
Maria Sakkari's decimation at the hands of third seed Zheng Qinwen in the second round of the 2025 Charleston Open has sparked discussions among tennis fans. The Greek has been in a form slump for quite some time and is slated to fall to 81st in the WTA rankings.
Sakkari's form has seen a massive drop since the last season, following her run to the final of the BNP Paribas Open. Things have now gone from bad to worse for the former World No. 3 in 2025. She entered the Charleston Open with an underwhelming 6/11 win/loss, hoping to turn her fortunes around.
The Greek had a strong start to her campaign, scripting a 6-3, 6-2 win over Maria Stakusic before facing Zheng Qinwen. The Chinese player was too good for Sakkari, who lost 6-4, 6-1.
Fans expressed concern for Maria Sakkari's rapidly deteriorating form on social media. One fan even questioned:
"Is this the beginning of the end for Maria Sakkari."
Another fan felt a coaching change could benefit the 29-year-old.
"It’s just tough to watch at this point. Really hope she decides to make some drastic changes to how she approaches the game. She has to find that joy in playing again. Feels like she could use a Conchita Martinez type of coach who has been on tour and seen the ups and downs," the fan opined.
Here are some other reactions from fans.
"Eh she’ll be ok eventually or retire. Honestly as a long time fan it was absolutely wild to see her get higher than low 20s. I was happy for her to have an ok career but we got slam semis and a masters," a fan said.
"She’s already out of the Madrid cutoff and at her current ranking also won’t make it into Rome automatically. Feels like she would mentally and points-wise benefit from focusing on smaller events at least for a little while….," a fan mentioned.
"Maria sakkari hasnt beat anyone good in over a year now. she gained like 400 ranking points on just 4 wins cuz she gets a bye, wins, loses, repeat. shes almost 30, she will be out of the top 100 soon if things dont change #CharlestonOpen #WTA," a fan mentioned.
"Maria made mistakes at the crucial moments. And it was enough. Shame, because this match was manageable, closer than it looks," a fan felt.
Sakkari was a semifinalist at Charleston last year. However, failing to defend her ranking points means the Greek will fall to 81st in the rankings.
"I've played two Grand Slam semifinals, and since then, I basically haven't made the second week after that" - Maria Sakkari
Maria Sakkari recently appeared on the latest episode of the Tennis Insider Podcast, hosted by Caroline Garcia and her fiancé Borja Duran, during which she was asked how she dealt with failures, which immediately came after her moment of highs.
Sakarri acknowledged it was not easy to deal with expectations and criticisms. She highlighted reaching the semifinals of the French Open and the US Open in 2021 but not making it to the second week since then.
"It's tough. I mean, I've played two Grand Slam semifinals, and since then, I basically haven't made the second week after that. So, the expectations were over the roof and then suddenly, you're losing first second round in the Grand Slam and everybody's criticizing you that you're a Top 5 tennis player but you are not making the second week of a Slam and then it gets into your head and it's tough to handle it," she said.
Maria Sakkari, whose last title came at the 2023 Guadalajara Open, has only reached one final since then, the 2024 BNP Paribas Open. The Greek hasn't crossed the third round in her last five Grand Slams.