All-Access Hour with Maria Sakkari "I’m very excited ahead of my debut here"

...her experiences in Linz in 2019 (when after her withdrawal "Coco" Gauff replaced her as a lucky loser and won her first WTA title): “Being injured wasn’t ideal for me at the time because I was out for a couple of months. At the same time, it happens to everyone. I’m just very excited ahead of my debut here. I came all the way here in 2019, but in the end, I didn’t play because of my wrist injury. But now I’m healthy.” 
 
...her experiences this year in Linz: “I had a great dinner yesterday evening at a traditional Austrian restaurant. It’s very important when you go to new places that you try and see the culture of the city and the country. I’ve now had a schnitzel and it was great.”

...the expectations as the top seed: “Being the top seed is something I’ve got a bit used to now. What I want to achieve here is what everybody wants to do, just leave the tournament with the trophy. That’s my goal but at the same time it’s a very tough WTA 250. It doesn’t mean that because I’m the No. 1 seed that I have to win, or that I’m going to win. There are some very good players right from the first round and my first match is a real challenge.”

..Linz being a green event: “All the countries now are in transition and are following the path. In Greece, because we have lots of beaches and stuff, since I was a kid, I would see a lot of trash on the beach. It’s something we always wanted to change as a country. And, of course, our generation should help a lot as we’re the young generation coming up. It’s great to follow that in our profession at tournaments.”

...goals for 2023: “My goal is to have a better run in the Grand Slams than I did last year and to try to finish the year in the Top 5, just basically maintaining my ranking which was once No. 3.”
...reaction to her Netflix appearance: “I don’t know if the other players were jealous or anything. I don’t think it’s an issue as there are five more episodes so more players will be seen. It was obviously a very nice experience, something different. It’s good for the sport and I like it.”

In general, Maria Sakkari has set herself high goals. She wants to finish the 2023 season in the top five and then get back to where she was once before (March 2022) - third place in the world rankings.