Maria Sakkari entered Arthur Ashe Stadium for her 2021 US Open semi-final in the middle of a career-defining breakout season. A few months earlier, she had been a point away from the French Open final before freezing under pressure and suffering a heartbreaking loss to Barbora Krejcikova. Still, she picked herself back up and showed her resilience by reaching another major semi-final in New York, where a massive opportunity presented itself for whoever was bold enough to take it.
As she faced off against Emma Raducanu at Flushing Meadows, Sakkari was again struck by nerves. She started the contest dressed in a skirt that was a size too large and while she was preoccupied by her outfit in the early stages, fiddling with it and repeatedly complaining to her team, a cold-blooded Raducanu seized the moment, easing to a 6-1, 6-4 win and never looked back.
