The coach carousel on the WTA Tour really gets going before the end of the season: Two days after the separation of Angelique Kerber and Wim Fissette, it has now become known that Maria Sakkari and Thomas Johansson are going their separate ways. It may be speculated…!!!
A few weeks before Kerber, former Wimbledon semi-finalist Johanna Konta had already declared that she would tackle the future after working with another coach for almost a year. Their former coach, Michael Joyce, quickly found a new protégé.
The American has recently been in charge of Eugenie Bouchard, who will qualify against Andrea Petkovic in the Luxembourg quarter-finals on Thursday. And contact? She tries it at the current Kremlin Cup in Moscow with former Wawrinka coach Dimitri Zavialoff in the box.
With Sakkari and Johansson the separation was almost as surprising as with Kerber and Fissette. Greek rider Sakkari started the season with Sweden’s Johansson as number 52 – and has currently worked her way up to 29th place. The 23-year-old from Athens, an athletic power player, is considered to be one of the promoted players in the WTA Circuit 2018.
Highlights of their strong year were their entry into the final of the WTA tournament in San Jose. Johansson (43), 2002 Australian Open Champion, was also on board when Sakkari reached her first Premier 5 semi-final in Wuhan in autumn 2017. Reasons for the separation were not given.
“He took my game to the next level. I will still benefit a lot from our cooperation”, Sakkari praised her former trainer in the statement. Johansson himself also expressed his respect for his former protégé: “It was an honour to work with Maria. She has a great future ahead of her”, the Swede explained.