"When you play Coco Gauff, you have to accept that she's going to get two, three more balls than anyone else, you have to be patient" - Maria Sakkari
Maria Sakkari spoke about facing Coco Gauff and said that being patient was important when playing her.
The third-seeded Greek booked her place in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells for the third successive season after defeating 23rd-seed Emma Navarro 5-7, 6-2, 6-4. Here, she will be up against third seed Coco Gauff, who beat Yue Yuan 6-4, 6-3.
Speaking in her post-match press conference, Sakkari was asked about the key to facing Gauff. To this, the Greek said that the 20-year-old was "very solid" and didn't give too many "gifts".
"I would say that was the case today, too. Emma, she's very fast. She gets a lot of balls. She's very solid. She doesn't give a lot of unforced errors and gifts," Sakkari said.
The 28-year-old also said that one had to accept that Gauff would get a few balls more than anyone else and had to be patient against her, something she did to win her match against Navarro.
"When you play Coco, you have to accept that she's going to get two, three more balls than anyone else. You just have to be patient. That's what I did today in order to win today's match. I just feel that's my mindset going into tomorrow's match against her," Sakkari said.
Well, it's nice to have girls that are actually athletic and fit. Then you feel like, 'okay, it's time to challenge myself and play against someone that is equally as fit as I am,'" the Greek said.
Coco Gauff and Maria Sakkari have faced one another seven times
Coco Gauff and Maria Sakkari have squared off on seven occasions, with the Greek leading 4-3 in the head-to-head.
Sakkari has won four of her first five matches against the American from 2020 to 2022. However, Gauff has gotten the better of her in both their meetings in the 2023 season.
The US Open champion defeated Sakkari 6-2, 6-3 to win her first WTA 500 singles title at the Citi Open in Washington. They later locked horns in the China Open quarterfinals, where Coco Gauff won 6-2, 6-4 to reach the semifinals only to be beaten by eventual champion Iga Swiatek.
Whoever out of Gauff and Sakkari wins, will face Iga Swiatek or Marta Kostyuk in the Indian Wells final.