US Open gets off to a terrible start as Maria Sakkari retires mid-match due to pain in heartbreaking scenes

This is not the start Maria Sakkari had in mind for her US Open journey. After weeks of grueling training and intense preparation, she was ready to make an impression in New York. But sometimes, no matter how well prepared the players are, fate has other plans. For the Greek tennis star, fate seemed to have something unexpected in store. But what happened to thwart Sakkari’s plans?

In the first match of her season at Flushing Meadows against Wang Yafan, the 29-year-old experienced something unexpected. She seemed to be struggling in the first set of the match, trailing 2-6. Wang took control early, breaking Sakkari’s serve in the opening game and taking a 5-1 lead when Sakkari took a long medical timeout due to shoulder and neck problems.

But when she returned to the match, she struggled to get back into the game. Before entering the second set, the star player decided to retire as the world No. 3 started to struggle again in Cincinnati. She was also seen in tears after leaving the tournament as her yet another dream of winning the title ended in agony and pain. Remember, this was Sakkari’s first match on American hard courts.

After her third-round loss to Marta Kostyuk at the Paris Olympics, Sakkari never returned to the tennis court. She decided to withdraw from the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Masters due to a shoulder injury. Although she decided to play at the US Open, unfortunate scenes caused enormous frustration for the world No. 9. Meanwhile, Sakkari’s streak of early exits from the Grand Slams continued.

The Greek star has not reached the second week of a major since the 2022 Australian Open. This year, she suffered a third-round loss to Emma Raducanu at Wimbledon and a first-round loss to Varvara Gracheva at the French Open. She has also experienced several coach changes this year.

The Greek ended her partnership with her long-time coach Tom Hill after six years, one of the longest-running high-profile partnerships in women’s tennis. While she continued to work with David Witt, the journey again hit obstacles when the two parted ways in June.

This is a developing story…