Maria Sakkari: Partner, Ranking Drop, and 2025 News

Tennis can feel like a lonely sport even when the crowd is roaring, especially when your ranking starts slipping. Maria Sakkari, once ranked world No. 3 and a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist, has found herself navigating both a tough 2025 season and an unexpected social media storm. This piece covers her personal milestones, the on-court struggles, and the handshake controversy that caught the tennis world’s attention.

Age: 31 (born 25 July 1995) ·
Height: 172 cm (5 ft 8 in) ·
Highest singles ranking: No. 3 (21 March 2022) ·
Current singles ranking: No. 33 (as of 2025) ·
WTA singles titles: 2 (2019 Rabat, 2023 Guadalajara) ·
Nationality: Greek

Six key biographical stats, one pattern: Sakkari’s career trajectory shows a steep rise to the top 3 followed by a 2025 slide that has raised questions about her form and focus.

Does Maria Sakkari have a partner?

Who is Maria Sakkari’s fiance?

Yes, Maria Sakkari is engaged. Her fiance is named Konstantinos Mitsotakis, a Greek businessman who has chosen to stay out of the public spotlight. The engagement was announced in 2024, though the couple has kept most personal details private — consistent with Sakkari’s approach to her off-court life (WTA official profile).

How old is Maria Sakkari’s fiance?

The exact age of Konstantinos Mitsotakis has not been publicly confirmed. Unlike Sakkari’s own biography — she turns 31 on 25 July 1995 — her fiance’s age remains one of the few personal details that Greek media have not reported, reflecting the couple’s deliberate privacy (WTA official profile).

The pattern: Sakkari’s private approach extends to her engagement, limiting media insight into her partner.

Where does Maria Sakkari live?

Does Maria Sakkari still live in Barcelona?

Yes, Sakkari has been based in Barcelona, Spain, since she moved there at age 18 to pursue professional tennis training. She continues to train at the Barcelona facilities under coach Tom Hill (WTA official profile).

Where was Maria Sakkari born?

Sakkari was born in Athens, Greece, to a family with sporting roots: her mother, Angeliki Kanellopoulou, was a former tennis player who once broke into the top 150 on the WTA rankings (The Sun (UK tabloid)).

The implication: her Barcelona base remains central to her career, but family ties still anchor her identity.

What has happened to Maria Sakkari in 2025?

Why did Maria Sakkari’s ranking drop?

Sakkari’s singles ranking fell from her career-high No. 3 (March 2022) to No. 33 during 2025, according to ESPN (sports broadcaster rankings). At one point in the season, a 24score (stats aggregator) tracker listed her at No. 64, while an early 2025 ranking from ESPN placed her at No. 54 with 1,116 points late in the season. The drop marks a decline of more than 50 places from her peak.

What is Maria Sakkari’s 2025 season like?

Her 2025 season has been defined by inconsistent results. While she managed to reach the final at the Athens WTA 250 event (noted as 2026 by some data sources), the broader pattern is one of early-round exits and ranking freefall. A Yahoo Sports (news syndication) analysis described her as “a former world No. 3 struggling to find momentum” in 2025.

The catch: early 2026 data hints at stabilization, but the gap to her peak remains substantial.

What happened between Maria Sakkari and Yulia Putintseva?

Did Yulia Putintseva spray Maria Sakkari on Instagram?

No spray was involved, but the Instagram exchange became the talk of the Bad Homburg Open in June 2025. The incident began after Sakkari defeated Putintseva in a first-round match at the German tournament. At the net handshake, Sakkari was heard telling Putintseva to “look her in the eye” when shaking hands. Sakkari later said in a post-match interview that she did not think Putintseva would “invite her to dinner for the rest of their lives” (The Sun (UK tabloid)). Both players reportedly exchanged insults on court, according to Yahoo Sports (news syndication).

What did Yulia Putintseva post about Maria Sakkari?

Putintseva escalated the exchange the day after the match. On Instagram, she posted that she had shaken Sakkari’s hand “like most women do” and reposted images of Sakkari in prior handshakes with other players, suggesting inconsistent behavior. She captioned the follow-up post with the phrase “The plot thickens” and a clown emoji (TennisTemple (community news aggregator)).

What this means: the incident underscores how social media amplifies on-court tensions, reshaping narratives around sportsmanship.

What is Maria Sakkari’s career background?

What is Maria Sakkari’s height?

Sakkari stands 172 cm tall (5 ft 8 in), according to TennisExplorer (player database).

What is Maria Sakkari’s net worth?

Sakkari has earned more than $10 million in career prize money, though her exact net worth — including endorsements and sponsorship deals — is not publicly disclosed. Her two WTA titles contributed significant prize boosts: Rabat 2019 and Guadalajara 2023 (The Sun (UK tabloid)).

How many WTA titles has Maria Sakkari won?

Sakkari has won two WTA singles titles: the 2019 Rabat Grand Prix in Morocco, and the 2023 Guadalajara Open Akron in Mexico (The Sun (UK tabloid)). She notably reached the semifinals of both the French Open and the US Open in 2021, performances that drove her ranking toward the top 5 (The Sun (UK tabloid)).

“It’s about respect. You look the other person in the eye when you shake hands.”

— Maria Sakkari, post-match interview at Bad Homburg Open (Yahoo Sports (news syndication))

“Even if I don’t care, I shook her hand like most women do.”

— Yulia Putintseva, Instagram story response (Tennis.com (US tennis magazine))

The 2025 season has tested Maria Sakkari more than any other year in her professional career. Her ranking slide from No. 3 to outside the top 50, combined with the public handshake row, creates a narrative of a player at a crossroads. For Greek tennis fans, the question is whether she can rebuild her ranking to compete in Grand Slam main draws — or whether the 2025 slump will define a new, less triumphant chapter. For the WTA tour, the Putintseva saga serves as a reminder that sportsmanship norms are under real pressure from social media amplification. The choice for Sakkari is clear: stabilize her ranking through consistent results, or risk the pattern of a former top-3 player who never fully regained her form.

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