tennis
“It’s crazy”: Maria wants to go to the Wimbledon final
Tatjana Maria celebrates her victory over compatriot Jule Niemeier in the quarterfinals. Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Only five German tennis players were in the Wimbledon final, three of them were able to win the tournament. Now Tatjana Maria wants to continue her run with a place in the final.
Only two more wins until the sensational title: Tatjana Maria is in the semi-finals of Wimbledon before the biggest game of her career so far.
On Thursday (2.30 p.m. CEST), the 34-year-old will meet Ons Jabeur from Tunisia, second in the world rankings, and could become the sixth German tennis player to reach the final of the classic lawn. The opponent is no ordinary competitor for the mother of two. The most important things about the game at a glance:
initial position
Prior to the start of the tournament, Maria had never survived the third round of a Grand Slam. «A little over a year ago I gave birth to my second daughter (Cecilia). If someone had told me back then that I would be in a Wimbledon semi-final a year later, I would have said it was crazy, »Maria told her own story before the game.
the opponent
The 27-year-old Jabeur is not only the first Arab tennis pro in a Grand Slam semi-final. The Tunisian is also one of the Maria family’s best friends on the pro tour. “I love Charlotte, she’s so nice,” Jabeur said of her opponent’s eight-year-old daughter. “She plays tennis, it’s really wonderful to see her. The little one is always smiling, she has great energy. I just love the family as a whole.”
The seat
For the first time at this tournament, Maria will serve on Center Court. She has no good memories of two duels in the largest Wimbledon stadium: in 2019 she lost to the then defending champion Angelique Kerber in the first round, the year before it was over against the French Kristina Mladenovic. “Hopefully it will work out the third time,” said Maria.
Previous German Wimbledon finalists
So far there have been 14 finals in the women’s competition with German participation. In 1931, Cilly Aussem and Hilde Krahwinkel contested a German final, which Aussem won. In the professional era (since 1968), Steffi Graf and most recently Angelique Kerber were able to secure the title seven times in 2018.
| Surname | title | finals | Years |
| Steffi Graf | 7 | 9 | 1987.88*,89*,91*,92*,93*,95*,96*,99 |
| Angelique Kerber | 1 | 2 | 2016,2018* |
| Cilly Aussem | 1 | 1 | 1931* |
| Hilde Krahwinkel | – | 2 | 1931,1936 |
| Sabine Lisicki | – | 1 | 2013 |
* Title won
The semi-finalists in a statistical comparison
| Surname | Tatjana Maria (Bad Saulgau) | Ons Jabeur (Tunisia) |
| age | 34 | 27 |
| size | 1.72 meters | 1.67 meters |
| World Ranking Position | 103 | 2 |
| highest world ranking position | 46 (November 2017) | 2 (June 2022) |
| Grand Slam tournament participation | 35 | 21 |
| Wimbledon participations | 10 | 5. |
| best Wimbledon result | Semifinals/2022 | Semifinals/2022 |
| Wins in direct duels | 1 | 2 |
| Career Earnings* | $3.514 million (€3.45 million) | $6.245 million (€6.13 million) |
The TV situation
German tennis fans do not see live pictures from Wimbledon on free-to-air television. Like the entire tournament, the game will be shown on pay channel Sky, with the live broadcast from London on Thursday starting at 2:15 p.m.