Tatjana Maria’s triumphal march in Wimbledon continues. In the dramatic quarterfinals against compatriot Jule Niemeier, she again showed comeback qualities.
Tatjana Maria dropped the racket, put her hands over her mouth and, when she fell on Jule Niemeier’s arm at the net, cried tears of joy. After a quarter-final that was initially nervous and ended up being dramatic and emotional, the two German Wimbledon surprises went their separate ways. After her next comeback, Maria will play for a place in the final, while Niemeier will travel after her memorable debut in the All England Club and home with the greatest success of her young career so far.
After 2:18 hours, Maria converted her first match point to 4:6, 6:2, 7:5. Husband Charles Edouard cheered in her box, the daughters Charlotte (8) and Cecilia (1) may have been little stars in childcare in the training park. Her mom in the semifinals of the most important tennis tournament in the world – nobody expected that.
Long hug at the net
“I have goosebumps everywhere”, said Maria in the court interview after the game. “It was such a tough game against Jule. We both come from the same country and I think we made Germany proud today.”
Maria and Niemeier once worked together for the Essen club TC Bredeney in the Bundesliga, but have never trained together or played against each other. Nevertheless, the hug at the net after the match point was intimate and long. “I would have preferred not to let go of her at all,” said Maria to the sports show. “How she reacted – hats off, she was really happy for me.”
Niemeier’s words to Maria
Niemeier revealed to the sports show which words were spoken during the hug. “I told her: if I begrudge anyone to be in the semifinals, it’s her. Because I know how much she invests, that she has two children and how much work is behind it.”
In terms of sport, she has little to blame herself for, said Niemeier. Mary have”played extremely well in the end, gave me hardly any free points. She put the balls short and flat, so I couldn’t really do anything with the volley either. That’s why I can’t blame myself today.”
Maria now against Jabeur or Bouzkova
Maria, née Malek, is now playing at the age of 34 and only 15 months after the second birth as the fifth German to reach the Wimbledon final. There she meets her good friend Ons Jabeur on Thursday (July 7th, 2022). The second in the world rankings from Tunisia won her quarterfinals against the Czech Marie Bouzkova 3: 6, 6: 1, 6: 1.
“It’s a dream to experience this with my family”, said Mary. “A year ago I was almost exclusively breastfeeding.” Again and again she campaigns for more support from mothers on the WTA tour.
Niemeier starts better
Steffi Graf had won the title in Wimbledon seven times, Angelique Kerber triumphed in 2018, Sabine Lisicki reached the final in 2013, and Julia Görges also made it to the semifinals four years ago.
So now Maria – and not Niemeier, who was considered an easy favorite. And at the beginning it actually looked like Niemeier could win. Maria’s dreaded slice, that undercut that had previously driven her notable opponents to despair, didn’t come off as sharply as usual. And although Niemeier served a number of double faults, Maria ran after an early break in vain in the first set.
Maria with a big fighting heart
Only when she lost her second serve did she find her way into the match, turning a 0:1 deficit into a 4:1 lead and equalizing the set. Maria caught up again in the third set by 2:4 – and thanks to her fighting heart she can continue to dream of the title. Niemeier can comfort herself with the equivalent of £360,000 in prize money, doubling her previous earnings.
Maria has secured 620,000 euros by entering the semi-finals. However, neither of them get world ranking points, which were withdrawn from the tournament in Wimbledon after the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian players. For the peloton at the US Open both need good results in the coming weeks – at least because of self-confidence it shouldn’t fail after Wimbledon.