“It turns out that an older mother could still be the story of these championships,” wrote the English “Daily Mail” in amazement. Actually, this role would have been intended for her Florida neighbor Serena Williams, who failed early on. Now, Maria keeps telling the story of her traveling family tennis business with her husband and trainer Charles-Edouard and their daughters Charlotte and Cecilia in German, English and French for the cameras.
“I really take my hat off to how they do it as a family,” enthused Niemeier. “I think it’s incredible to travel with two children.” The Dortmund native will be accompanied in London by her mother, her brother and a team led by coach Christopher Kas.
Lifetime ticket guarantee
Reaching the quarter-finals is not only associated with entry into Wimbledon’s elite “Last 8 Club”, which among other things guarantees tickets for life, but also brings in the equivalent of 360,000 euros. “That’s a lot of money, it’s very helpful for both of us to know that you can plan for the next few months, that you can travel with a physio, that’s extremely important,” said Niemeier.
Even though they played a Bundesliga game together for TC Bredeney from Essen this year, there hasn’t been a WTA duel between the two yet. Angelique Kerber won the last German encounter in a Wimbledon quarter-final in 2012 in three sets against Sabine Lisicki.
Close match expected
And this time, too, the German women’s national coach sees no clear favorite. “In the end it will be a close match with a very open outcome,” said Barbara Rittner of the German Press Agency. “In terms of play, I see Jule a bit ahead because she has an even stronger serve and is able to impose her game more on Tatjana,” said Rittner. On the other hand, this was also the case with the defeated Latvian Jelena Ostapeno in the round of 16. “Tatjana has shown impressively often enough that she outgrows herself. She will do everything to make it as difficult as possible for Jule.”
So it will also depend on who has the best nerves on the big stage. Should she reach the semifinals in her second Grand Slam tournament, BVB supporter Niemeier can expect many congratulations again. “As a big Dortmund fan, I had to smile and of course I was happy,” she said of news from Nico Schlotterbeck and Mats Hummels. “I didn’t expect before the tournament that I would be sitting here with so many people knowing my name.” On Tuesday there could be a few more.