Tatjana Maria was born on August 8, 1987, in Bad Saulgau, West Germany, to Heinrich and Margrit Malek. Her father, originally from Zabrze, Poland, was an international handball player and Maria’s first coach. She also has two brothers.
Maria won her first WTA Tour match in 2006 and spent the next seven years fighting to qualify for Grand Slams and major WTA events. By the end of 2013, the German had won three Grand Slam matches and finished 2007 and 2009 inside the Top 100.
She took maternity leave in 2013 before returning to the tour during the 2014 clay court season. At the 2015 Wimbledon Championships, Maria reached her first Grand Slam third round, achieving this with a dramatic 1-6, 6-2, 10-8 victory against Duan Yingying in the second round before falling to Madison Keys in round three.
Three years later, she had a surprising run to victory on the grass courts at the 2018 Mallorca Open, defeating future Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the semifinal and sealing her first WTA title with a 6-4, 7-5 win against Anastasija Sevastova in the final.
In 2022, at the age of 34, Maria had the best season of her career, claiming a second WTA title at the Bogota Open in Colombia by prevailing 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 against Laura Pigossi. However, she caused an even bigger shock with her run at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.
After defeating Astra Sharma and Sorana Cirstea in the first two rounds, she shocked the fifth seed Maria Sakkari in the third round, followed by a thrilling 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 win against Jelena Ostapenko. Having previously been past the second round of a Grand Slam only once, she overcame her compatriot Jule Niemeier to reach the Wimbledon semifinals.
Maria missed out on making the Wimbledon final after losing 2-6, 6-3, 1-6 to her friend Ons Jabeur. The German defended her title at the 2023 Copa Colsanitas, defeating Peyton Stearns 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 to secure a third WTA title. Maria is among a very small number of players on the WTA or ATP Tours to find her best tennis in her thirties.
