Qualifier Maria continues dream week with win over Keys to reach Queen’s final

Germany’s Tatjana Maria became the oldest woman to reach the final of a WTA event as she beat Australian Open champion Madison Keys 6-3, 7-6 (3) at Queen’s Club in London on Saturday.

The 37-year-old qualifier, a mother of two who beat Leylah Fernandez, Karolina Muchova and Elena Rybakina and added Keys to her list of victims with another example of grass-court court craft.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe it, it’s a dream come true,” said Maria, whose two daughters were courtside for the match.

Maria had lost nine matches in a row before arriving at Queen’s but using her slice, on both sides, backed up by good serving, helped her to another remarkable victory. She’ll play either top seed Qinwen Zheng or Amanda Anisimova next.

“You always have to keep going,” she said, of turning round her form. “You never can stop. I’ve had my ups and downs but you always have to keep going. We live for these moments.

“I was in qualifying, and I really told myself, OK, you have to go round by round. You have to get this feeling back playing on grass. Every match was getting better. I mean, now I’m in the final, so I’m really, really pleased with my performance.”

In the previous rounds of the Queen’s tournament, Keys, ranked No 8, won against Russian qualifier Anastasia Zakharova (6-3, 6-2) and edged out Russian Diana Shnaider, the No 5 seed (2-6, 6-3, 6-4).

London WTA 500, other semi-final result (Queen’s Club, grass, USD 1.415.000):

• Qinwen Zheng vs. Amanda Anisimova