Tatjana Maria

Tatjana Maria battled back from a set down to beat compatriot Jule Niemeier 4-6 6-2 7-5 and reach the semi-finals of Wimbledon at the age of 34.

Niemeier stopped the rot with a hold of serve to reduce the deficit as her second serve remained a valuable weapon, but another hold and a third break of the set saw Maria level the match at one set all. Maria held to lead for the first time in the match and broke Niemeier for a second time in the second set to lead 3-1 thanks to a massive forehand winner. Maria fought off another break of serve in the third game of the first set as Niemeier missed a break point, but the 22-year-old held serve to restore her two-game lead despite four double faults in her opening three games.

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.

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.

The 34-year-old, who gave birth to youngest daughter Cecilia last April, fought back from a set down to win the all-German contest 4-6 6-2 7-5 in two hours ...

It took her 57 minutes to create a first break point and while that was saved, the next was taken with a volley at the net on her knees. The wide-ranging skillset of world number 97 Niemeier was on full display in the first game of the second set where another break was secured. It meant Maria marched into her first major semi-final on her 35th appearance in the main draw of a grand slam to keep defying the odds in SW19.

Tatjana Maria advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals Tuesday -- the 34-year-old German's first final four at any Grand Slam tournament.

I'm only happy that I'm in the semifinal now." Her best previous performance was reaching the third round in 2015. 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 34.

Tatjana Maria produced a thrilling comeback against Jule Niemeier to reach her first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon. The German star was ranked outside ...

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.

Tatjana Maria, a woman who this time last year had just given birth to her second daughter, reached her first grand slam semi-final at Wimbledon after ...

“Ons, it would be really nice to play Ons because she is really part of my family,” she said. With both women using the forehand slice, a shot that seems to have made a comeback this year, Maria upped her game to level only to fall 4-2 down in the decider as Niemeier reasserted her dominance. Mixing forehand slices with outstanding movement and great net play, the world No 103 came from 4-2 down in the third set to clinch a place in the last four.

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.

Tatjana Maria rallies from a set down to defeat fellow German outsider Jule Niemeier in the quarter-final. She is bidding to become the first mother since ...

Maria will now go on to face good friend Ons Jabeur, the highest-ranked player in the draw, after she recovered from a set down to beat Marie Bouzkova and reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time. Bidding to become the first tennis mum since Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980 to win Wimbledon, the mother of two also recovered from a set down to beat 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the fourth round. - Maria is only the sixth woman in the open era to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals after turning 34