As a husband, father and coach, Charles-Edouard Maria is the most important person behind Tatjana Maria’s success. Ahead of the Wimbledon semifinals, the Frenchman took time out to talk to Sportschau about the success, family history and chances against Ons Jabeur.
sports show: Charles Maria, her player and wife has in Wimbledon reached the semifinals. Have you realized the importance of this success yet?
Charles Maria: It was an absolutely great feeling after that match, but after that everything remained normal. She went through her normal program, her routines as always. She ended that match, kept to himself for a moment, took care of the interviews, got a massage from the physiotherapist, and then we went to get the girls and back to the hotel. We played with them and ate dinner together. It ended as a normal day. Tatjana remains the mother for the children, regardless of whether she loses or wins, but of course Charlotte in particular is very happy that Tatjana won. She always wants to come back to the care here and train in the morning.
How did the kids react after the win?
Charlotte was of course very proud. Usually she is with us on the squares. But here the day care place at Wimbledon is very special, she wants to stay there all day with the other kids. They have special shows, they dance, they sing, they have a nice lounge to hang out in. There, the children also follow their mother’s matches on TV. I heard she was excitedly watching the match and jumping across the room – just beautiful.
Charles Maria: “She can’t surprise me anymore”
Tatjana Maria caught up from behind in almost every match, fended off match points in the round of 16 and yesterday ran after a set deficit again. Was there a moment when you thought, “Ok, quarter-finals at Wimbledon is a great result, today was it?”
Yes, it was indeed difficult yesterday, but Tatjana is always able to come back and fights from the first point to the last. You can’t surprise them anymore. She can play superbly and at the same time is such a nice personality who respects the game and her opponents.
Charles Maria: “Darling let’s have some coffee”
She says she trusts them blindly as coaches. They’ve been through so much together, two comebacks from pregnancy, switching backhand technique. Doesn’t that happen sometimes too?
No, and that’s not difficult either. As soon as I see her looking a little tired or upset in a workout, I immediately take the pressure off and say, ‘Ok honey, let’s have a coffee. Let’s take a break.’ I always avoid a conflict, it doesn’t do anything in our constellation. We never argue on court and never will, before that it’s more like a coffee date (laughs).
How did you get to know each other and how did that develop with the coach-friend constellation?
I first met her privately and I didn’t want to be her coach (laughs). We already lived together, but I didn’t train them – that was nice too (smiles). But after we’d been dating for three or four months, she asked me, ‘Please come and train me. We don’t need anyone outside.’ She had made her experience and wanted to try it with me and it works to this day.
Charles Maria: “Always wanted to have several children”
How did the husband and father react when they were expecting their second child two years ago and how did the coach react?
At the time she wasn’t happy with her backhand, so as a coach I said, ‘If you want, we can change your technique to a one-handed backhand.’ We did that during pregnancy. After the birth, as a father, I said: ‘If you want to play again, we’ll play. If you’re not comfortable with that, we’ll stay at home with the kids and enjoy it. We’ve always wanted to have multiple kids anyway and we’ve never put any pressure on ourselves.
In the semifinals, Ons Jabeur, probably the strongest grass player in the world at the moment, is waiting as an opponent. How do you rate the chances?
You always have a chance on the tennis court. Tatjana always believes in victory and she will give everything and then we’ll see, but apart from the result: Tatjana is really happy to play against Ons. From time to time she visits us in Palm Beach in the USA and flies in for a few days. Then we have barbecue and enjoy the time and train. She is a good friend and is always so nice to our children. The girls love her and she also sometimes plays tennis with Charlotte. Of course I hope that Tatjana can still assert herself.
Jannik Schneider conducted the interview