Tatjana Maria
Wikipedia - Tatjana Maria
Tatjana Maria (née Malek; born 8 August 1987) is a German professional tennis player. In January 2024, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 42, and in June 2016, she peaked at No. 54 in the doubles rankings.
She has won three singles titles and four doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as one singles title on the WTA Challenger Tour. She has also won 16 singles and 15 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. She has made 14 appearances (20 matches) for Germany in Fed Cup competition between 2006 and 2011 and between 2018 and 2023.
History
2013–2016: 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.
2017–2020: Top 50, first WTA Tour title
Maria reached a career-high ranking in the top 50 in November 2017.
She won her first singles WTA Tour title at the 2018 Mallorca Open defeating Anastasija Sevastova.
2022: First major semifinal at Wimbledon
Maria won her second title at the Copa Colsanitas, defeating Laura Pigossi in the final.
At the Wimbledon Championships she defeated Astra Sharma, Sorana Cîrstea and then world No. 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 lost her semifinal match to the second seed and world No. 2, Ons Jabeur, in three sets. She was the first mother-of-two to make the last four of a major since Margaret Court at Wimbledon 1975, and only the fourth player ranked outside the top 100 to reach the Wimbledon semifinals. She was awarded the WTA Comeback Player of the Year for her performance in 2022.
2023–2024: United Cup debut, third title, Olympics qualification
Maria defended her title at the 2023 Copa Colsanitas in Bogotá, defeating Peyton Stearns in the final.
She was selected as the No. 2 WTA player representing team Germany for the 2024 United Cup.
In April at the 2024 Copa Colsanitas, she could not defend her title losing to local favorite and 2021 champion, Camila Osorio, in the quarterfinals and fell down to No. 65 in the singles rankings.
She was also selected as the No. 2 WTA player for the 2024 Paris Olympics.