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Tatjana Maria (back) and Ons Jabeur hugged after the Wimbledon semi-final, which Maria lost: "I wanted to enjoy this moment with her"
Photo:
Gerald Herbert/AP
The gesture of the game
: When the semifinals in Wimbledon between the surprising promoted Tatjana Maria and Ons Jabeur was over after an hour and 43 minutes of play, there was a scene that delighted the audience on the center court.
Jabeur, the world number two who is friends with Maria, gave the 34-year-old German a tight hug and pointed his finger at her.
Jabeur had won, Maria's dream trip was over, but now all the attention should be hers.
And so it was.
Maria got her deserved special applause for an excellent tournament.
"I wanted to enjoy this moment with her," Jabeur said of Maria afterwards, "because she's such an inspiration to so many players, including me."
The result:
Maria, number 103 in the world rankings, had never reached a semi-final in a Grand Slam tournament before.
She deservedly lost this against Jabeur.
The favorite from Tunisia won 6: 2, 3: 6 and 6: 1.
Maria was only able to match her power and elegance for a short time.
She could have reached the final in Wimbledon as the sixth German player in history.
So far, Cilly Aussem, Hilde Krahwinkel and, in the so-called Open Era, the seven-time winner Steffi Graf, Angelique Kerber and Sabine Lisicki have made it to the final.
But things turned out differently.
Read the match report here.
Festival of the Slice:
Already the first game of this semi-final was characterized by countless undercut balls, which both players constantly threw in.
Forehand, backhand, stops, half volleys, the balls literally sailed across the net in slow motion.
It's not really Jabeur's game, but she initially went along with it.
The pushing lasted eight minutes, then Maria had won the first service match in her first Grand Slam semifinal.
Strategist at work
: The 27-year-old Tunisian played a very clever match.
Jabeur had good answers, used the width of the pitch and let her opponent run.
She also didn't get involved in quick rallies in front of the net.
Maria was always looking for that against Jule Niemeier in the quarter-finals and was mostly able to win with her athleticism and ability to anticipate.
However, after a short phase of weakness in the second set, Jabeur continued to distribute the balls without much hectic and like to use a lot of spin.
It was also the play of an excellent strategist.
With 84 wins on the WTA Tour this year, Jabeur is the most successful player.
The key back into the game:
Maria shook both wrists one after the other after losing the first set, dancing from one leg to the other in anticipation of Jabeur's serve and hitting her hip with the flat of her hand like Steffi Graf once did.
You could tell she wanted to get back into this game somehow.
And she found the key to it.
Jabeur hit more and more simple forehand balls, Maria played with more pressure and risk at the same time.
She quickly led 4-1 in the second set - and was in Jabeur's head for a short period.
Maria managed to equalize the sentence.
Blow to ruin:
Maria had to go the full distance in four out of five matches en route to this semi-final.
Always with the better end for themselves.
She had turned out to be a real specialist in third and decisive sets at Wimbledon.
The opposite was the case against Jabeur.
She completely lost focus, she seemed to be running out of energy.
As a consequence, even the lightest punches failed.
One is particularly remembered because it was of crucial importance: When the score was 0: 3 against Maria, she had to defend another break point.
The door was wide open.
She attacked a slow and high ball from Jabeur and advanced to the net.
Jabeur stayed resigned in a corner, Maria only had to hold out the bat and convert her volley.
But she missed this simple ball: 0:4.
"Tennis Germany is proud":
Maria can still be happy about what has been achieved.
Hardly anyone would have expected it.
National coach Barbara Rittner was all the more upbeat: “All in all, it was a great two weeks for her.
Tennis Germany is proud of Tatjana Maria.«
Barbecue party requested:
The fact that this was not a normal game between two opponents was not only shown by Jabeur's pointer after her victory.
Two friends met here.
The winner therefore also had a message ready for Maria: »It was difficult to chase after her balls.
She has to grill for me to make up for all my running on the pitch.« There should be some money for it: Maria collects the equivalent of 626,000 euros in bonus for the greatest success of her career.