Tatjana Maria in the Wimbledon semifinals: will the "mother of all comebacks" winner make the sensation?

Created: 07/06/2022Updated: 07/06/2022 17:24

Has prevailed in the German duel against Jule Niemeier: Tatjana Maria in action.

© Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP/dpa

With her well-known slice and special story, Tatjana Maria wants to move into the Wimbledon final.

She meets one of her best friends in Ons Jabeur.

London – In Wimbledon, a little-known German tennis player reaches for the sensation: Tatjana Maria is only two wins away from the sensational title.

After the quarter-final victory in the German duel with Jule Niemeier, the 34-year-old now meets the world number two Ons Jabeur from Tunisia in the grass classic on Thursday.

The story of the mother of two Maria fascinates the tennis world.

Maria is number 103 in the world rankings, has never gotten past the third round of Grand Slam tournaments, and at 34 she is also in the late autumn of her career.

Her technique also does not speak for her, especially on grass: Maria plays forehand and backhand mainly as a slice, i.e. with a cut.

On grass, this is a disadvantage compared to the hard and placed shots of her competitors.

And yet the 34-year-old German is in the semifinals of what is probably the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world.

Tatjana Maria in the Wimbledon semifinals: duel against Ons Jabeur, the biggest performance of her career

The duel on Thursday (beginning at 2.30 p.m.) is not only special for Maria from a sporting point of view.

Ons Jabeur is a good family friend.

Maria and her two daughters have a close relationship with the Tunisian world-class player - in the semifinals of the classic grass pitch, of all places, Maria and Jabeur meet for the biggest performance of their careers.

"We've known each other for ages, she loves the children," Maria described the relationship with the second in the world rankings, which is unusual in professional sport.

"She almost sees my kids as her kids, so she's actually part of our family.

Whenever she sees Charlotte, she plays tennis with Charlotte.

If she sees Ceci, that's her baby.

We get along really well.”

Wimbledon semi-finals with Tatjana Maria: fairytale story of the 34-year-olds

Actually, the story of Maria and her traveling family business would be fairytale enough: Less than a year after returning after the birth of her second daughter, the 34-year-old is better than ever.

Her husband Charles-Edouard trains her, every morning in Wimbledon the eight-year-old Charlotte has tennis practice first, both daughters are in childcare during the tournament matches.

"I'm really happy for her that she's getting what she deserves," said 27-year-old Jabeur about her good friend Maria.

"She was struggling a lot.

It's not easy coming back after having two babies.

It's going to be a great match between us, with a lot of respect."

Internationally, too, attention is growing for the "mother of all comebacks", as the British

joked about Maria's catching up in the German quarter-final thriller against Jule Niemeier.

At the BBC, Charlotte was allowed to interview her mother: who is your favorite player?

Answer: Serena Williams and Ons Jabeur.

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Tatjana Maria against Ons Jabeur: Wimbledon semifinals with a special story

In Palm Beach Gardens, Maria, who was born in Bad Saulgau, lives on the east coast of Florida in the neighborhood of the Williams sisters, and also talks to Serena about motherhood.

Both call for more rights for mothers and families on the tour, Maria advocates, among other things, for separate rules when returning after pregnancy.

Maria would also be happy about childcare in the style of the Grand Slam tournaments.

"It's great for the kids, they all know each other.

It's nice that they're always together, it's a great help for us," she said at Wimbledon.

"It's a shame that the other bigger tournaments like Indian Wells or Miami don't have that."

Mothers are still a rarity in professional tennis.

In addition to Maria and Serena Williams, there was only Belgian Yanina Wickmayer in this year's field.

In the 138-year history of women's tennis at Wimbledon, only four mothers have won the title, after the First World War it was only Australia's Evonne Goolagong-Cawley in 1980.

Video: "Family duel" in Wimbledon: Mama Maria against "Tante Ons"

The fourth triumph of a German tennis player on Church Road after Cilly Aussem, Steffi Graf and Angelique Kerber would be an absolute sensation for several reasons.

Despite all the friendship, Ons Jabeur has something against it.

"She's hard to play against and I've joked with Charlotte: will you support me or your mum?

I try to get the kids on my side," said the Tunisian, laughing.

"Maybe we're not friends for two hours or however long the match lasts.

But in the end we will be friends again." (dpa/fmü)