INTRODUCTION
Tatjana Maria (née Malek; born 8 August 1987) is a German professional tennis player. In November 2017, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 46, and in June 2016, she peaked at No. 54 in the doubles rankings. She has won two singles titles and four doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 15 singles and 15 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit.
She has made 12 appearances (18 matches) for Germany in the Billie Jean King Cup competition between 2006 and 2011 and between 2018 and 2020.
CAREER
2013–2015: Wimbledon & Miami Open third rounds, top 100 debut
Maria took a sabbatical in 2013, to have her first child, and returned to tour at the 2014 Copa Colsanitas.
2017–2022: Top 50, two WTA titles, first Major semifinal at Wimbledon
Maria won her two singles WTA Tour titles at the 2018 Mallorca Open and the 2022 Copa Colsanitas.
At the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, she won in the third round against world number 5 Maria Sakkari (her fifth top 10 win) and in the round of 16 against 12th-seeded Jeļena Ostapenko, where she saved two match points. This made her the oldest player to debut in a Wimbledon quarterfinal. In the quarterfinal, she beat compatriot Jule Niemeier, who was ranked 97th, in three sets. She reached a Wimbledon semifinal as the sixth female player in the Open Era over the age of 34 and the sixth woman from Germany. She will face world number 2 Ons Jabeur in the semifinal.
Maria beat three seeded players in a row in her run to the quarterfinals, including fifth-seeded Maria Sakkari in the third round and 12th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, in the fourth round.
The first semifinalist at this year’s Wimbledon is the oldest woman in the draw. Tatjana Maria, a 34-year-old German who returned to the tour less than a year ago following the birth of her second daughter, advanced to the semifinals at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her 35th appearance. She beat another German, 22-year-old Jule Niemeier 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, on Tuesday on No. 1 Court.
“One year ago, I just gave birth,” Maria said in court. “It’s crazy.”
Maria is making her 10th appearance at the All England Club and has become only the sixth woman in the Open era to reach the Wimbledon semifinals after turning 34. Her best previous performance was reaching the third round in 2015. She never even made it that far at the other three major tennis tournaments.
It hasn’t all come easy this year.
Maria is ranked 103rd in the world and was outside the top 250 as recently as March. Since returning from maternity leave, she lost in the first round at the U.S. Open, the Australian Open, and the French Open.
The second match on No. 1 Court will be between ninth-seeded Cam Norrie and David Goffin. Norrie is trying to become only the fourth British man to reach the Wimbledon semifinals in the Open era.
That changed on the grass courts of Wimbledon.
Maria beat three seeded players in a row in her run to the quarterfinals, including fifth-seeded Maria Sakkari in the third round and 12th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, in the fourth round.
She will next face either third-seeded Ons Jabeur or Marie Bouzkova. Those two will play for a spot in the semifinals after the match between Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner on Centre Court.
“Ons is, I mean, part of our family. She loves my kids,” Maria said. “It would be great to play Ons, but we never know. I’m only happy that I’m in the semifinal now.”
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