It was quite the week for Maria Sakkari.
A former top-3 player who has struggled to maintain her ranking in recent years, the expected result for Sakkari at the 2026 Qatar Open wasn’t anything monumental. She’s been playing decent tennis, but nothing that would suggest a deep run.
So, although she had a tough loss to eventual champion Karolina Muchova, Sakkari’s run to the WTA Doha semifinals was nothing short of excellent. And as her ranking rises (currently up to No. 33, 19 spots above where she was last week), her confidence should rise too.
Maria Sakkari’s Strong Start in Doha
Sakkari dominated in her first-round match against wildcard Zeynep Sonmez, 6-1 6-3, and that got the ball rolling for some suffocating tennis as she continued to play. In the second round, she upset sixth seed Jasmine Paolini, 6-4 6-2, then defeated qualifier Varvara Gracheva, 7-6 6-0.
It was a level that Sakkari hadn’t played at since her last great 1000-level run: Indian Wells in 2024. Almost two years later, Sakkari was finally finding her best tennis.
In the quarterfinals, Sakkari was up against top seed Iga Swiatek. Sakkari hadn’t beaten Swiatek since 2021, and this was a tournament where Swiatek has historically done well; it was a tough ask to beat her.
At first, it looked like the match would go the way of all of Sakkari’s recent matches against Swiatek. She lost it, 6-2, and Swiatek had all the momentum.
But Sakkari didn’t stay down for long.
She went up an early break, and although Swiatek eventually broke back it was clear that Sakkari was playing at the level she had in her first three rounds. At 5-4, Sakkari broke for the set and forced a third.
From there, it was all Sakkari—good and bad. She broke Swiatek’s serve twice and attempted to serve for the match at 5-3, but couldn’t put it away. Sakkari’s best tennis was there, but there were flashes of her worst as well. But she got things back on track with three break match points, converting the third on a Swiatek volley error and achieving the upset.
Sakkari’s semifinal loss against Muchova was tough. But overall, this week was a return to form, and that’s what she should see it as.
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
