14:43
Jabeur – Maria: 0:0
The first game is hotly contested. With a bit of luck, Maria fends off the breakball on the net and then works out a cue ball, but cannot set the final forehand volley. So Jabeur can organize another break opportunity, but not use it either.
14:40
Jabeur – Maria: 0:0
The Tunisian scored her first point with a sensitive stop. Then both throw in a slight mistake and it goes over 30:30. When Maria’s attack slice gets stuck on the edge of the net, the game’s first break chance is there.
14:38
Jabeur – Maria: 0:0
Here we go! Maria serves and gets the first mistake after Jabeur’s backhand error.
14:33
It’s about to start
The two protagonists have just entered Center Court and started warming up. Tatjana Maria can open the duel in a few minutes.
14:30
duel of opposites
From a playful point of view, it will be a duel of opposites that the spectators will experience on Wimbledon’s Center Court. Ons Jabeur can put opponents under pressure with her powerful and varied game and dictate a match. Maria counters this with her unorthodox style and experience, playing an incredible amount of slice, even on the forehand. The German will certainly be an outsider in the duel with the number two in the world, but Tatjana Maria is definitely capable of anything in this tournament.
14:27
Jabeur’s incredible year
Ons Jabeur has been on the tour for many years, but only celebrated her big break to the top of the world in the last twelve months. She only won her first WTA tournament in Birmingham in 2021, followed by triumphs in Madrid and Berlin this season. The 27-year-old has won two of her three tournaments on grass. Jabeur is now second in the world rankings. Here in London, the Tunisian marched confidently through the first four rounds and only gave up her first set in the quarter-finals. She lost the first round against the Czech Marie Bouzkova, but still won 3:6, 6:1 and 6:1.
14:22
Maria’s sensational journey
Tatjana Maria described reaching the semifinals as “crazy”. And that does absolutely justice to the course of the tournament. In four out of five matches, the German had to go the full distance, losing the first set three times and then making a comeback. This was also the case recently in the German quarterfinals against Jule Niemeier, which she won 4:6, 6:2 and 7:5. Only in her most difficult match on paper against the Greek Maria Sakkari, who was seeded number five, did Maria surprisingly come through without losing a set.
14:10
good friends
The duel is also special because the two players have a lot to do with each other off the pitch. Jabeur is a good friend of the Maria family, plays tennis with their eight-year-old daughter Charlotte and says of her opponent: “I love Tatjana so much, her family is great, she’s my barbecue friend.” Tatjana Maria sees it the same way. “She almost sees my children as her children. That’s why she’s part of our family. We get along really well,” said the 34-year-old from Bad Saulgau, who also made it clear: “We’ll take the match professionally.”
14:02
Two special stories
Very few had expected this semi-final pairing before the tournament started, because both Tatjana Maria and Ons Jabeur are in the last four of a Grand Slam for the very first time in their careers. Both made history even before the first serve of this game. The German gave birth to her second daughter just over a year ago and now, at the age of 34, as a mother of two, she suddenly achieved her best career result by far. Tunisia’s Jabeur, on the other hand, has become the first ever Arab player to reach the semi-finals of a major event.
14:01
Warm welcome
Hello and welcome to the first day of semi-finals at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships! Four women are still in the running for the most coveted of all tennis trophies. In the first duel on the center court, the German surprise semi-finalist Tatjana Maria will have to deal with the world number two Ons Jabeur from Tunisia at 2:30 p.m.