"Maria Sakkari in shambles, crazy how she's still top 10" - Fans react to Greek suffering 3rd successive 1R exit after Bad Homburg defeat

Maria Sakkari's poor run of form continued, as she suffered an opening-round defeat at the Bad Homburg Open. The Greek was the top seed at the WTA 500 tournament but suffered a defeat to Jule Niemeier in the first round.

Sakkari started the match strongly and won the first set 6-2 before the German fought back to take the second set by the same margin and force the match into a decider. The final set was tightly fought and went to a tiebreak, with Niemeier eventually coming out on top to register a 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) win and book her place in the second round, where she will take on Paula Badosa.

This is Maria Sakkari's third successive first-round exit, having previously lost to Victoria Azarenka at the ecotrans Ladies Open and to Varvara Gracheva at the French Open before that.

Several fans reacted to the Greek's defeat at the Bad Homburg Open, with one fan claiming that the Greek was "in shambles", adding that it was "crazy" how she still managed to stay in the Top 10 of the WTA rankings.

"Sakkari in shambles. Crazy how she's still top 10," the fan wrote.

Comment byu/jovanmilic97 from discussion intennis

Another fan couldn't believe that the Greek player was still in the top 10 of the WTA rankings.

"I still can't believe that Sakkari is in the top 10. She has a good stint at a few tournaments and still maintains her ranking but is nowhere to be seen at the slams or even masters 1000s" the fan commented.

Comment byu/jovanmilic97 from discussion intennis

Here are some more fan reactions to Sakkari crashing out of the first round in Bad Homburg:

"Maria...Maria...What are you going to do when Guadalajara points come off," one fan said.

"I think Sakkari might have achieved as much as she can as a top player. Hopefully, she can add another small title or 2 to her CV, though. She deserves more than 2 career titles. Jule has always impressed me, especially on grass. I thought she was going to break into the top 40 a few years ago, but she's stagnated in the rankings, maybe this will give her a push to rise up again after torrid recent form," a fan commented.

"From Bad Homburg to Worse Homburg for Sakkari," another fan said.

"Has she (Sakkari) found a coach since her split with Witt," one fan commented.

Maria Sakkari has won 19 out of 31 matches so far in 2024

Maria Sakkari in action at the ecotrans Ladies Open (Source: Getty)

Maria Sakkari hasn't had the best of 2024 seasons so far, with 19 wins and 12 losses. The Greek's best performance so far has been reaching the final of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where she beat Diana Shnaider, Caroline Garcia, Diane Parry, Emma Navarro and Coco Gauff before losing to Iga Swiatek.

She also reached the semifinals of the Credit One Open in Charleston and the quarterfinals of the Miami Open. The 28-year-old started the 2024 season well, as she won three matches at the United Cup, which wasn't enough to prevent Greece from being eliminated in the first round.

After her early exit in Eastbourne, Maria Sakkari is next scheduled to compete at Wimbledon 2024. The Greek's best performance so far at the grass Major was reaching the third round in 2017, 2019 and 2022.