"Daniil Medvedev is someone I look up to, he's very clever and intelligent" - Maria Sakkari

Maria Sakkari, after securing her second career title and ending a four-year title drought, had words of praise and compliments for ATP World No. 3, Daniil Medvedev.

The 28-year-old Greek player secured a win over Caroline Dolehide, presently ranked 47th on the WTA rankings, with a score of 7-5, 6-3, at the Akron Tennis Stadium.

In a post-match interview after the final, when asked about her trophy speech resembling Coco Gauff's at the US Open, Maria Sakkari recognized social media's impact.

She said it makes her aware of criticism with social media accounts and YouTube channels focusing on her losses. Proving her critics wrong brought immense satisfaction, and she expressed gratitude for the motivation they provided.

"We live in 2023. Social media is a part of our everyday life. You cannot avoid it. Coco said she knows the user names. I know them, too. I know the person with a YouTube channel who posts all my semifinal losses, all my final losses. I'm aware," Sakkari said.

The satisfaction now, I cannot describe it. When you prove all these people wrong, it's fuel. For me, it worked as fuel. I knew it was going to come, I didn't know when. Thank you to them. They gave me strength," she added.

The reporter noted a resemblance in her tone to ATP's No. 3 Daniil Medvedev and stated:

" Well, now you sound like Danil Medvedev."

The champion of the 2023 Guadalajara Open responded with words of praise for Daniil Medvedev, mentioning that she holds him in high regard due to his intelligence and cleverness.

"Daniil Medvedev is someone I look up to, he's very clever and intelligent." Maria Sakkari said.

Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev notably offered his perspective on handling criticism in March 2023, following his advancement to the semi-finals of the Indian Wells tournament.

“This pressure of being No. 1, for sure a lot of haters. And that’s normal. Novak has a lot of haters., Even Rafa and Roger somehow have them. You’re, like, how is this possible? They shouldn’t have,” he ended with a smile. hat taught me to even less care about this and focus more on myself, on my close people around me, because that’s the only way you can stay sane and true to you,” Medvedev said.

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Maria Sakkari admits that she struggled mentally en route to her victory in the Guadalajara Open final against Caroline Dolehide

Mexico Tennis. Maria Sakkari

In a match against Caroline Dolehide lasting an hour and 43 minutes, Maria Sakkari claimed her first WTA Tour title in four years, marking a triumphant return to the winner's circle at the Guadalajara Open after enduring six consecutive final losses.

In an interview after the match, Sakkari candidly admitted that breaking her years-long title drought was an emotional challenge. She revealed that the persistent thoughts and doubts that had plagued her throughout that time had been exceptionally difficult to overcome.

"It's amazing, I'm speechless, four and a half years since I won my first title, and I just finally won my second one. All these thoughts I've been having all this time was very tough to overcome this, and I'm just very proud of myself that I did it this week," Sakkari said.

Maria Sakkari's first title was at the Morocco Open. Her recent triumph in Mexico marked a significant milestone, as she became the first Greek player to claim a WTA 1000 event title.