The Greek tennis star, Maria Sakkari, is on the hunt for her first title of the season at Parma. However, so far it has been a disappointing season for her. She has faced early exits in all of this year’s grand slam tournaments. After her second round defeat in the US Open, she is now participating in the Parma Ladies Open.

At a promotional event in Parma, the Greek player got an opportunity to meet the Italian soccer star Gianluigi Buffon and talked about her coaching technique that her coach had created for her.

How did a renowned soccer player help Maria Sakkari practice?

The 27-year-old had a cheerful talk with the famed goalkeeper about her coach and hitting partner. She said, “You know, it’s funny. Tom, my coach, he invented a drill in practice for me. Jonny is my hitting partner. So Johny serves and Tom says I have to be like Gianluigi Buffon. Don’t let any ball pass. But that was like three years ago.”

She mentioned how her coach named a practice after a soccer player and how he exhorts his players to defend like a goalie. The world number seven had a tennis racket in her hand with which she demonstrated the defense serve to the Italian icon.

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The current captain and goalkeeper for the Serie B team, Parma, Gianluigi Buffon, is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. After his conversation with Sakkari, the Italian star took to social media to acknowledge that he had a good time conversing with the tennis player.

Sakkari didn’t have a good year on court

The Greek tennis star played in almost every tournament this year. However, she is trying hard to win her first title of the year. At the US Open earlier this month, the world number three couldn’t advance to the third round of the tournament and was defeated by Wang Xiyu in the second round.  

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She experienced similar disappointing results at the French Open and the Cincinnati Masters, when she was eliminated in the first rounds. The 27-year-old won her first round at the Parma Ladies Open and defeated Kateryna Baindl of Ukraine. However, her big break came when she advanced to the semifinals of two major slam tournaments last year, the French and the US Open. Notably, she is the second-highest ranked Greek tennis player after Stefanos Tsitsipas.