Tatjana Maria (née Malek; born 8 August 1987) is a German professional tennis player. In January 2024, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 42, and in June 2016, she peaked at No. 54 in the doubles rankings.
She has won three singles titles and four doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as one singles title on the WTA Challenger Tour. She has also won 16 singles and 15 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. She has made 14 appearances (20 matches) for Germany in Fed Cup competition between 2006 and 2011 and between 2018 and 2023.
Career
2013–2016: Wimbledon & Miami Open third rounds, top 100 debut
Maria took a sabbatical in 2013, to have her first child, and returned to tour at the 2014 Copa Colsanitas.[1]
2017–2020: Top 50, first WTA Tour title
Maria reached a career-high ranking in the top 50 in November 2017.
At the Wimbledon Championships she defeated Astra Sharma, Sorana Cîrstea and then world No. 5, Maria Sakkari (her fifth top 10 win[4]), and in the round of 16 against 12th-seeded Jeļena Ostapenko, where she saved two match points.[5] This made her the oldest player to debut in a Wimbledon quarterfinal.[6] In the quarterfinal, she beat compatriot Jule Niemeier who was ranked 97th, in three sets. She reached a Wimbledon semifinal as the sixth female player in the Open Era over the age of 34,[7] and the sixth woman from Germany.[8] She lost her semifinal match to the second seed and world No. 2, Ons Jabeur, in three sets. She was the first mother-of-two to make the last four of a major since Margaret Court at Wimbledon 1975, and only the fourth player ranked outside the top 100 to reach the Wimbledon semifinals.[9] She was awarded the WTA Comeback Player of the Year for her performance in 2022.[10]
2023–2024: United Cup debut, third title, Olympics qualification
She was selected as the No. 2 WTA player representing team Germany for the 2024 United Cup.
In April at the 2024 Copa Colsanitas, she could not defend her title losing to local favorite and 2021 champion Camila Osorio in the quarterfinals and fell down to No. 65 in the singles rankings.
Her father Heinrich Malek (Polish: Henryk Małek) was a Polish international handball player originally from Zabrze.[12]
On 8 April 2013, she married her coach, the French former tennis player Charles-Edouard Maria. Their first child, a daughter, was born in December 2013,[1] and their second daughter was born in April 2021.[13]
Performance timelines
Key
W
F
SF
QF
#R
RR
Q#
P#
DNQ
A
Z#
PO
G
S
B
NMS
NTI
P
NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments and Billie Jean King Cup are included in win–loss records.[14]