"I remember I won that match and the only one who was clapping was my coach" - Maria Sakkari on her subdued celebrations after beating Serena Williams in Cincinnati 2020

Maria Sakkari and Serena Williams have each other twice on the WTA tour in 2020, with both players coming out on top once.

Sakkari beat the 23-time Grand Slam champion at the Cincinnati Masters in the Round of 16, with the American getting her revenge a couple of weeks later at the same stage at the US Open.

Speaking in a video posted online, the 27-year-old Sakkari revealed that heading into the match in Cincinnati, she was intimidated to play Williams before the match but could not celebrate her win over the American as she would have liked to because of the COVID-19 restrictions in place at the time. With the absence of fans in the stadium, the only person cheering for her was her coach.

"Yes, I was (intimidated). I was unlucky that it was during the bubble so we didn't have any crowd. I remember I won that match and the only one who was clapping was my coach," she said.

"It was pretty sad, wasn't it? It was the biggest win of my career and there was just one person supporting me. I remember before playing her second time in two weeks before walking on-court, she was just ready to beat me. I was a break up in the third set and I choked. I was nervous," she added.

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"Her aura is very unique" - Maria Sakkari on her younger sister Amanda Sakkari

Maria Sakkari in action against Ons Jabeur at the 2022 WTA Finals.

In a recent interview with WTA, Maria Sakkari revealed that her siblings Amanda Sakkari and Yiannis Sakkari, who can be spotted in Maria's player's box from time to time, have a very unique aura.

"Her aura is very unique. Both my siblings are. Yiannis was with me in a couple of tournaments this year. We're very close. It's just very nice to have them around. Like at Indian Wells, we would take the car and go to Whole Foods every day. That was the highlight of the day. It's very nice just to do little things," said Maria Sakkari.

Away from the tennis courts, Amanda stated that they don't discuss the sport and instead stay more focused on food, life and everything else.

"I never in a tournament talk about the result, or the tennis, or what time is your practice. I'm more like what are we going to eat, or this is what's happening in my life, try and get her mind away from tennis because that would reduce some pressure," Amanda said.

"We were laughing that my role is a plant, because I don't do anything. I just exist there," she added.