Social

Maria Sakkari has seen your memes about her semifinal record

By David Kane Aug 05, 2023
Social

Airline sends Alexander Zverev's bags from Rome to the Maldives instead of Buenos Aires

By Baseline Staff Feb 10, 2025
Social

Quote of the Day: Ons Jabeur on Madison Keys’ Grand Slam success: “She inspired us all”

By Baseline Staff Feb 10, 2025
Social

Serena Williams gets amped for Super Bowl LIX with Superdome sprint

By Baseline Staff Feb 09, 2025
Social

Taylor Fritz's two-handed forehand had everyone in Dallas doing a double take

By Liya Davidov Feb 06, 2025
Social

Will the US Open's latest schedule change hurt mixed doubles, or save it? Players are divided

By Stephanie Livaudais Feb 06, 2025
Social

Ana Bogdan says Simona Halep 'opened the doors' for every Romanian athlete

By Baseline Staff Feb 05, 2025
Social

Paula Badosa won't play forever, but she's enjoying the time she has left

By Liya Davidov Feb 05, 2025
Social

Jannik Sinner launched a YouTube channel—and Nick Kyrgios has thoughts

By Baseline Staff Feb 03, 2025
Social

Danielle Collins gets "five-star Bahamas vacation" after all

By Baseline Staff Feb 03, 2025
Social

Maria Sakkari has seen your memes about her semifinal record

While the Greek star has maintained a sense of humor about her habit of losing in penultimate rounds, Sakkari looks to have the last laugh at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, where she reached the final on Saturday.

ByDavid Kane

Published Aug 05, 2023

MATCH POINT: M. Sakkari def. J. Pegula; Washington SF
WATCH: Sakkari snapped a seven-semifinal losing streak on Saturday against Jessica Pegula.

Advertising

Maria Sakkari had lost her last seven semifinals coming into the Mubadala Citi DC Open, a record she is as aware of as you are.

"I really tried to block that semifinal thing that has been going on and on for so long and in every different platform,” she admitted on Saturday after snapping the streak with a 25th career Top 10 win over Jesscia Pegula. “I just don't really care anymore. They have made YouTube videos of my losing semifinals. I'm, like, Whatever. People are just so dumb.”

Sakkari has tried to take what has gone from confusion to concern to derision in stride, jokingly calling out a fan who mocked her record on Twitter earlier this year:

Still, her frequent and high-profile defeats have clearly gotten to the Greek if her words in press are any indication: in addition to her seven straight semifinal defeats, she lost two Grand Slam semifinals in 2021. Though both times were to eventual champions Barbora Krejcikova and Emma Raducanu, Sakkari was the higher-ranked player in both occasions.

“I think if you were to ask a lot of players on the tour if they would take my semifinal record, they would say yes, because I'm not losing first round. I'm losing in semifinal. So, at the same time, it's nothing bad about it. But obviously I had it in my mind that I want to overcome that for this year.”

Advertising

Sakkari ultimately snapped the streak in some style, navigating a second-set hiccup to defeat the top-seeded Pegula in front of an American crowd. But while her semifinal record could use cleaning up, her final record is in similar shape with just one win against six runner-up finishes.

“It's something that I'm happy about that it happened this week,” she said of her victory, “But I'm not done yet. That's how I feel."

Sakkari will aim to win her first title since the 2019 Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem on Sunday against Pegula’s doubles partner Coco Gauff, who dethroned defending champ Liudmila Samsonova in straight sets in the second semifinal.