Maria Sakkari responds to Greek tennis social media post critical of her and Stefanos Tsitsipas

Much has been said and written about the struggles of Greek tennis players Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas. The pair both exited the Top 10 rankings this week amid struggles over the past 6 months. Arguably, Sakkari and Tsitsipas have spoiled Greek fans with their success and longevity in the Top 10.

The criticism on the Greek tennis site Tennis24 forced the normally stoic Sakkari to speak out. Sakkari, dealing with a split from coach Tom Hill and performance issues, took time to criticize Tennis24 for writing the following: "A historic low for Greece in the men's and women's rankings in the last two and a half years." Tennis24 continued by tagging Sakkari and Tsitsipas in the post to its over 1,000 followers.

Sakkari's response took Tennis24 to task not about her or Tsitsipas's performance or rankings drop, but for another critical reason that is both admirable and patriotic.

What Maria Sakkari said

Sakkari wrote: "Did you give this much thought before writing it? Because of this, tennis will not go forward in our country. You are laughable!"

This type of social media scrutiny is not new or exclusive to tennis. Players of all sports are regularly criticized by "fans", gamblers, armchair athletes, and spectators. It is unfair, as these players are human beings and are not perfect. They are well aware of how they are performing. The fact that this criticism came within Greece irked Sakkari who is concerned about growing the sport in her country.

Sakkari and Tsitsipas put Greek tennis on the map, and obviously, Sakkari wants their legacy to be for more young people to play and succeed at tennis in her country. In this context, she was correct to admonish the website by talking about a "historic low" as she and Tsitsipas are the engineers of the country's success.

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