Tatjana Maria was able to upset top seed Jelena Rybakina at London’s Queen’s Club, but missed her chance in the second set.
Tatjana Maria fought courageously and put Jelena Rybakina through her varied game for a long time – but it wasn’t quite enough against the world number two from Kazakhstan. Maria had to give up her dream of defending her title at London’s Queen’s Club with a 7:6 (7:4), 5:7, 0:6 defeat in the round of 16 and thus slipped out of the top 100 in the world rankings.
Maria quickly proved to be an unpleasant challenger for top seed Rybakina in the first set. Last year she defeated the Kazakh woman in the quarter-finals, and now the mother of two from Bad Saulgau has once again brought the favorite out of her comfort zone. Maria snapped in the tiebreak.
It remained a close duel in the second set. Rybakina had advantages when she was able to use her power, but she also made a lot of mistakes. In crunch time, the Moscow native gained weight. The decisive passage was a clear affair.
Defending champion without wildcard
Last year, Maria had a sensational run of success at the WTA 500 tournament with several wins against top players. The title win last summer is the greatest success of the 38-year-old’s career.
Despite the coup, she did not get a wildcard for this year’s edition, which her husband and trainer, Charles-Édouard Maria, clearly criticized in the British press. Maria fought her way through the qualification and defeated the Greek Maria Sakkari 6:3, 6:3 in the first round.