German qualifier Tatjana Maria completes dream week with brilliant Queen’s title
The 37-year-old came through qualifying to go all the way to the title
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Germany qualifier Tatjana Maria completed the best week of her career as she beat Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday to win the HSBC Championships at London’s Queen’s Club.
The 37-year-old world No 86, who came into the event after nine straight defeats, added Anisimova to a list of scalps including Leylah Fernandez, Karolina Muchova, Elena Rybakina and Madison Keys as she clinched her fourth career title.
“It was an amazing week,” said Maria, who celebrated her win with her family – husband and coach Charles, and two daughters, in the stands.
A semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 2022, Maria is the oldest woman to win a WTA title since Serena Williams, then 38, won the ASB Classic in 2020 and is the fourth oldest woman ever to win a tournament on the WTA Tour.
Slicing the ball on both sides, playing brilliant drop shots and retrieving everything – she won one point in the second set thanks to five lobs in a row – Maria outfoxed and outplayed Anisimova to win her second grass-court title.
Slicing and dicing her way to victory
Anisimova had taken out top seed Qinwen Zheng to reach her first grass-court final but found Maria a puzzle too hard to solve. The American did hit back from 4-1 down to 4-3 in the opening set but was then broken again as Maria held on.
The second set was a similar story, Maria slicing and dicing her way to a 4-1 lead, only for Anisimova to get one of the breaks back for 4-2 and then hold for 4-3 down.
But two aces in a row gave Maria a 5-3 lead. Ansimova held serve to ask the question of Maria but she was equal to the task, serving out brilliantly for victory.
Anisimova praised Maria’s performances throughout the week.
“It’s really incredible to see you playing at this level,” she said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see you in the Wimbledon final because you really had me running around out there today.”
