Tatjana Maria wants to build on her triumph at Queens and shine at Wimbledon too. Her unconventional playing style could help her achieve this.
Professional tennis player Tatjana Maria is going into the classic Wimbledon tournament full of confidence. “I can beat any opponent on grass,” said the German number one in an interview with the Hamburger Morgenpost.
Maria already proved she can do that just under two weeks ago in London. At the WTA tournament in Queens, she fought her way from the qualifiers to the final and won her fourth WTA title.
“I thought to myself: ‘I love grass, I love grass. That’s why I wanted to play as many matches as possible on grass. And then I just kind of marched through,” said the 37-year-old from Bad Saulgau, looking back.
Maria plays unconventionally
She is hoping to pull off another surprise at Wimbledon, where Maria is considered an underdog. Her rather unusual playing style with an extremely high number of slice shots poses particular problems for her opponents.
“Many don’t know my style of play very well or don’t know how to play against me. That’s an advantage for me.” She added: “Although Steffi Graf also played backhand slices, today it’s still something special.”
Next Monday marks the start of her “absolute favorite tournament,” where she reached the semifinals in 2022. All she wants is to “enjoy every second. I’m doing everything I can to go into the tournament as fresh as possible, both physically and mentally. And since I know I can beat the good players, I’m just hoping to go far.”
Maria’s first-round exit in Bad Homburg was a minor setback. She qualified directly for the main draw at Wimbledon (June 30 to July 13).
