"Am I first or last that's coming back from an injury": Maria Sakkari claps back after ranking drop response amid Charleston loss

Maria Sakkari is set to fall out of the top 80 after losing at the Charleston Open to Zheng Qinwen and amid this news coming out, the Greek clapped back at the notion that she wouldn't return to the top 10 in the future.

Sakkari was dismantled by Zheng Qinwen 6-4, 6-1 after seeing off Marina Stakusic in the opening round but she had to defend also points from both Indian Wells and Miami in recent weeks so in reality this has proven to be a bit of an issue.

She reached the final of Indian Wells and semi-final of Miami last year and those points have now dropped. But she didn't want to be written off as she hit back.

Christian's Court on X wrote: "Maria Sakkari will fall outside the top 80 now with this loss to Qinwen in Charleston... hard to imagine her returning to the top 10 tbh."

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So what started out as a point about her dropping out of the top 80 turned into his personal opinion about her situation. Sakkari had a high ranking of World No.3 and was one of the most consistent players on the tour in terms of top 10 status until late last year.

Sakkari responded on X: "Am I the first or the last that’s coming back from an injury and is dropping points?" The Greek spent most of the end of last season on the shelf with a shoulder injury.

One that saw her miss between the end of the US Open and the United Cup and she has not yet returned to form. Her ranking plummeting has also not helped matters as she is in a bit of a rut where she has to play qualifying or big names to start draws instead of getting herself into match winning form.

But with this message, she will hope to prove the doubters wrong who don't think she will return to the top 10 in future.

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