Tatjana Maria

Jelena Ostapenko was a poor sport after a poor performance in her fourth-round defeat to Tatjana Maria at Wimbledon.

“This means also that you always have to keep going,” Maria said. “I mean, of course maybe I shouldn’t have done this,” Ostapenko added. “I’m not going to let it go and say, ‘it’s fine, I lost, and it’s fine’. No, it’s not fine.

THERE will be two first-time Grand Slam semi-finalists facing off for a spot in the Wimbledon final on Thursday.

But the 23-year-old fought back to break and get herself on the board at 1-4. The Tunisian kept her streak up, breaking again for a 4-0 lead - her eighth game in a row. Having led 40-0, Jabeur threw in a double fault and two errors to get broken and gift the world No 66 the first set 6-3 after 43 minutes. It was the third seed who was broken first, saving the first break point with a drop shot at the end of a thrilling exchange before finding herself 2-3 down. It meant the elder German booked her place in a maiden Grand Slam semi-final at the age of 34, just 15 months after giving birth to her second daughter. But she won just one more game in the second as the world No 103 broke three times to take it 6-2 and force a decider.

Maria gave birth to her second child only last April, and is enjoying a best-ever run at a Grand Slam tournament.

“I'm here, yeah, I'm in the semifinal of Wimbledon, it's crazy, but I'm still a mom. “I guess there are a lot of people who never believed I would come back,” she muses, adding, “Close to me, nobody doubts, was never doubting that I cannot do it. I try to keep normal as much as possible, because that was what makes me proudest is to be a mom.”

Tatjana Maria and Jule Niemeier played only the third all-German Grand Slam quarter-final in the Open era.

I try to keep normal as much as possible, because what makes me the proudest is to be a mum.” “I’m here, yeah, I’m in the semi-final of Wimbledon, it’s crazy, but I’m still a mum. Nothing will change this,” she told a news conference, still with the smile on her face from when she left Court One.

Tatjana Maria reached the Wimbledon semifinals after beating compatriot Jule Niemeier on Tuesday. ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/AFP via Getty Images. Wimbledon CNN —.

However, that did little to detract from what was an entertaining and engrossing match, and the crowd responded with a standing ovation as Maria won her first of two match points in the third set. "I'm happy that I could do it, even when I was 4-2 down in the third set," she said. "I kept going and it's getting better and better." But Maria has shown that fighting and scrapping on the court is in her nature. Prior to this year's Wimbledon, Maria had never progressed further than the third round of a grand slam tournament in 34 attempts. That's because her eight-year-old daughter, Charlotte, is a budding tennis star who has training each morning.

Mother-of-two Tatjana Maria overcame German compatriot Jule Niemeier in a three-set thriller on No.1 Court to reach the Wimbledon semifinals, having never ...

Maria on responding to Niemeier's tactics: "I knew a little bit this will happen, so I had this in my mind. Bidding to become the first player to reach the Wimbledon semifinals on her main-draw debut since Alexandra Stevenson in 1999, the 22-year-old took advantage of a nervy start by Maria to break immediately, and did not face a break point during the whole first set. She committed 11 in total, and the eighth opened the door for Maria to bring up break-back in the very next game. "That's the friend who plays every morning with Charlotte, actually," Maria said. She took this momentum into the final game, finding some of her most biting slices to draw errors in response from Niemeier. Maria repeatedly drew gasps from the crowd with her defensive scrambling, seemingly able to get anything that her racquet touched back into play. In Maria's words: "It was a really tough match. No.103-ranked Maria, who hit her career-high of No.46 in November 2017 after returning from her first maternity leave in 2014, is also the fourth-lowest ranked player to reach the Wimbledon semifinals since 1984. Maria, who trailed by a break in both second and third sets, is contesting her 46th Grand Slam (including qualifying). Prior to this fortnight, she had never passed the third round in any of them. Match management: Three previous seeded opponents -- No.26 Sorana Cirstea, No.5 Maria Sakkari and No.12 Jelena Ostapenko -- had attempted to power through Maria's web of slices, and failed. The first was a 17-year-old Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon 2004. Now, the German is a Grand Slam semifinalist after overcoming compatriot Jule Niemeier 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in a 2-hour, 18-minute Wimbledon quarterfinal thriller.

Tatjana Maria continued her remarkable run at Wimbledon by securing a maiden semi-final appearance at the All England Club with victory over compatriot Jule ...

Available to download now on - iPhone & iPad and Android A volley sealed an early break for the third seed and another was handed out by Bouzkova when she double-faulted. It's a dream to live this with my family and with my two little girls. 3/5 3/9 "This court is amazing, the crowd are amazing and it's such a pleasure to play here.

Neither Tatjana Maria nor Ons Jabeur had been to a Grand Slam singles semifinal until this week. The close friends will play each other at Wimbledon on ...

“And it’s really been a plus for Tatjana’s game, because by showing things to Charlotte, she had to go back to the basics and that has refreshed her game, and she has built on it. “She’s one of the examples I wish players would look up to,” Jabeur said of Maria. “Because she really suffered to play and win rounds in the Grand Slams and now look at her. She has a strong, relatively flat first serve, and her ability to hit heavily sliced strokes off both wings keeps the ball particularly low on grass. Maria won a WTA 250 event in Bogotá, Colombia, this season on clay: her second singles title on the main tour. Williams and Maria exchanged tips when Williams returned to play at Wimbledon this year at age 40 after nearly a year away from the tour. “I was one of the first ones after Kim,” Maria said. But at this wild and often wide-open Wimbledon, she will now face her close friend Ons Jabeur on Thursday for a spot in the final. “I always believed in this, but to be now here in this spot. But Jabeur, a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon last year, already has been in close range of such tennis success. This is uncharted territory for both, and Jabeur, a 27-year-old Tunisian with an eye-catching all-court game, has quite a story of her own. “I love Tatjana so much, and her family is really amazing,” Jabeur said. Neither Tatjana Maria nor Ons Jabeur had been to a Grand Slam singles semifinal until this week.

The German mother of two will face either Ons Jabeur or Marie Bouzkova in the last four.

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Maria is making her 10th appearance at the All England Club and has become only the sixth woman in the Open era to reach the Wimbledon semifinals after turning ...

I'm glad that I can -- because I was talking a little bit to [former Moroccan tennis player who reached four major quarterfinals] Hicham Arazi, and he told me, 'Arabs always lose in the quarterfinals and we are sick of it. She will next face third-seeded Ons Jabeur, who defeated Marie Bouzkova 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 to reach a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time. Her best previous performance was reaching the third round in 2015.

Jabeur set up a meeting with her “barbeque buddy” after a hard-fought victory over Marie Bouzkova.

“It’s going to be a great match between us, a lot of respect, for sure. “I think for me that’s the most important in my life, to be a mum of my two kids. I’m here, yeah, I’m in the semi-final of Wimbledon, it’s crazy, but I’m still a mum. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. I’m really happy for her that she’s getting what she deserves. I will change her Pampers, I mean, everything normal.

Tatjana Maria is in the midst of the most improbable run we've ever seen, reaching the Wimbledon semifinals at 34 years old.

Maria did not deal with the pressure of serving for the match and lost the game in a clean break for 5-5. The story of Tatjana Maria is one certainly fit for a book when it is all said and done. Maria was then set to play the most important match of her career to that point, a Wimbledon quarterfinal. Like in her last match, the first set was very tight and Maria gave up an early break. Maria got the set tied up at 4-4 with a break back but ended up having to save two match points in her next service game. The German broke right back and did not make the same mistake a second time, winning 5-7 7-5 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals. Sakkari came back stronger in the second, got an early break that she held on to and Maria was serving to stay in the set at 5-2. The Australian came through qualifying and took the first set before Maria came back to win 6-4 in the third. Maria broke again and held her nerve to serve the match out. “I came here with my two kids for the first time, I was already so happy to be in the main draw!” Maria said in one of her on-court interviews during this amazing run. The German jumped away to a 5-0 lead and won the first set 6-3. On April 2nd, exactly a year to the day since the birth of her daughter, Maria won a first qualifying round match over Conny Perrin at a WTA 250 in Bogota. The 34-year-old not only went on to reach the main draw, she left Colombia a champion.

In her latest BBC Sport column, Wimbledon semi-finalist Ons Jabeur talks about playing her good friend Tatjana Maria in the last four.

She is always happy for me and will text when I win. I know Charlotte more because she is the oldest one and speaks. I got married to my husband Karim when I was young and maybe we will have children when the time is right. I think she loves me as a player too and that really touched me. I'm doing great right now and I don't have the time to stop. I could see myself having a baby and coming back to play in WTA events...

In her latest BBC Sport column, Wimbledon semi-finalist Ons Jabeur talks about playing her good friend Tatjana Maria in the last four.

She is always happy for me and will text when I win. I know Charlotte more because she is the oldest one and speaks. I got married to my husband Karim when I was young and maybe we will have children when the time is right. I think she loves me as a player too and that really touched me. I'm doing great right now and I don't have the time to stop. I could see myself having a baby and coming back to play in WTA events...

The "barbecue buddies" will face off for their first major semifinal, and the No. 3 seed wants all the support she can get to continue her breakthrough Slam ...

A friend to many on tour, Jabeur has become especially close to Maria and daughters Charlotte, 8, and Cecilia, 15 months—earning the honorary title of “Aunt Ons.” It’s really an amazing story.” Ons Jabeur is on the precipice of capping off a breakthrough European summer with a first Grand Slam final, but she’ll have to get past “barbecue buddy” and fellow semifinal debutante Tatjana Maria to do it.

World No. 103 Tatjana Maria lost the first set in her last match, against compatriot and fellow surprise quarterfinalist Jule Niemeier, but the 34-year-old ...

The lopsided odds aren’t that surprising when you consider where these two players are ranked, but it would be a mistake to assume that Jabeur is going to sleepwalk her way through this match. The German will now take on world No. 2 Ons Jabeur, with a spot in the Wimbledon final on the line. This is a match-up that's widely expected to go in the Tunisian’s favor, with Jabeur listed as a -900 moneyline favorite.

The World No. 2 is on the brink of her first major championship. Ons Jabeur has been dominant at the All England Club this past few weeks, dropping just one ...

At 34, this is a career achievement for her making it to the semis after never winning more than a round at a Grand Slam event. Jabeur is the overwhelming favorite to advance against an unproven Maria, who is past the second round for the first time in her Grand Slam career. 21. Minnesota Vikings (+4000) Minnesota may have a chance to sneak into the playoffs if it can beat up on the Lions and Bears in the NFC North. 22. 11. Philadelphia Eagles (+2000) The Eagles have jumped from +2500 to +2000 in the odds over the past week, so Vegas sees the vision with this improved roster. 16. New England Patriots (+3000) Mac Jones is going to need to take a step for the Patriots to repeat last year's success in a suddenly loaded AFC. 17. 7. Dallas Cowboys (+1600) The Dallas defense is intriguing to me after losing a few key players in the offseason, but the focus will likely be on how the Cowboys replace Amari Cooper on offense. 9. Denver Broncos (+1800) The Broncos are going to "Let Russ Cook" in 2022, but if they miss the playoffs this may be deemed a huge failure. Los Angeles Chargers (+1600) The Chargers' improved defense could be the reason they make the leap to a playoff team in 2022. Los Angeles Rams (+1000) The easiest decision I have in the Power Rankings is keeping the defending champs in the top three as they run it back in 2022. 2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+600) The Buccaneers have been the favorite in the odds all offseason. Jabeur is the overwhelming favorite to advance against an unproven Maria, who is past the second round for the first time in her Grand Slam career. The Flyers signed Fedotov, considered one of the top goaltending prospects in the world, to an entry-level contract at the end of May. According to CBS, Russian media reported last Friday that Fedotov had been picked up by law enforcement outside of a hockey rink in St. Petersburg. It was later reported that he had been taken to a hospital for "stress-induced gastritis" and that his family was not allowed to visit him.

Read on for David Gertler's betting analysis of the Wimbledon semifinal match between Ons Jabeur and Tatjana Maria.

Maria has come to the net over 25 times in four of her five matches in London. She also directs her slices well around the court and at different depths, as well. Maria has had a brutal road to the semifinals. Overall, Jabeur is 10-0 on grass for the season, winning a warmup tournament in Berlin before coming to London. She won 67% of her own first serves. Overall, Jabeur hit 30 winners compared to 27 unforced errors, controlling the baseline well in the second and third sets.