Maria Sakkari nails Shot of the Year contender in Australian Open first round win

MELBOURNE, Australia—This wasn’t what coach Tom Hill had in mind when he and Maria Sakkari spent the off-season working on shot selection.

“He told me, ‘If I give you this shot a million times, there’s no way you’re going to hit it,’” the former No. 3 joked of her around-the-post winner that helped seal a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Léolia Jeanjean.

“I was speechless,” she added of the shot, an early Shot of the Year contender. “I didn’t know what to think because I’d never thought I could hit that kind of shot. You see players like Roger Federer who’s hit incredible shots in the past and you’re like, ‘No, I certainly cannot hit that type of shot.’

“Obviously I was leading and a lot more relaxed, but it was just a one-off thing that honestly, unfortunately, I’m never going to hit again in my life.”

Luckily for Sakkari that she hasn’t had to rely too much on trick shots to enjoy a bright start to the season, defeating both Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu and United Cup to continue her rise back up the rankings from a July 2025 low of No. 90.

Having reunited with longtime coach Tom Hill, the two-time Grand Slam semifinalist reached the quarterfinals of the Mubadala Citi DC Open with a win over Emma Navarro, and though she cut her ranking in half, the real work commenced over the off-season.

“I obviously started with a lot of focus on my fitness. A lot of running and a lot of track twice a day,” explained Sakkari, who will face either No. 8 seed Mirra Andreeva or Donna Vekic in the second round. “Then we transitioned into the court, focusing on the tennis, the change of direction, shot selection.

“We kept working on my serve, which I have to say was my best shot today with a very high percentage. I’m trying to be closer to the baseline, but I think the change of direction and shot selection were the two main things we worked on. Otherwise, you can’t play on a high level anymore. Everything is becoming too fast and you just have to be able to respond.”

That [nervous] feeling is what comes before the good feelings you have when you win a match...these two feelings come together. Maria Sakkari on battling nerves before her first-round match

Shot selection has been challenge for Sakkari over the years. A superb athlete, the Greek star has struggled to play with the requisite aggression—in her words, “pull the trigger”— in order to compete for the game’s biggest titles. It’s a problem that Sakkari believes is mental as much as tactical.

“The more confident you are, the better you can select the right shots because you just see the ball so much bigger. The problem is when you’re not that confident and knowing what shot to hit in order to have a good outcome.

“I just have to buy in and continue to be patient and trust that I can do it every single day.”

Despite the confidence, Sakkari admitted to feeling a combination of nerves and nostalgia ahead of her clash with Jeanjean, a player she’s known since her junior days playing 12-and-under tournaments.

“I remember looking at her like she’s a goddess,” recalled Sakkari.

“It’s crazy because Belinda [Bencic]’s dad sent me a video a few days ago when Belinda was 9 years old and I was 11. We were at the Orange Bowl Under-12 and it’s a video from an old VHS camera, so there’s some girls I’ve known for 20 years now.”

Sakkari played through the jitters to earn a decisive win—and a two-day break before the second round.

“It’s funny, because Tom was talking to me before the match and telling me this nervous feeling is never going to go away. I was like, ‘Come on, I’m 30 years old. It has to go away.’ He was like, ‘Not only is it never going to go away, you’re going to miss it when you’re done with tennis.’

“I was like, ‘Certainly not!’ But he said that feeling is what comes before the good feelings you have when you win a match. He was telling me to buy in, that these two feelings come together.”

With a spot in the third round on the line, which shots will Sakkari choose to move closer to the second week?