'My whole family won this trophy': Maria completes title run at Queen's
Thanks to four Top 20 wins in a row, Tatjana Maria View Profile has been rewarded with her biggest career title -- as a 37-year-old mother of two.
Queen's Club: Draws | Scores | Order of play
Capping off her incredible week of upsets, German qualifier Maria captured the WTA 500 HSBC Championships title on Sunday with a 6-3, 6-4 final victory over No. 8 seed Amanda Anisimova View Profile of the United States.
"It means a lot to me, because I'm 37 years old and I won this trophy today," Maria told the press. "People were always saying, 'Oh, now maybe it's time. You are too old. You are...' Whatever reason they say sometimes.
"I'm a good example that even in my age you still can win big trophies. I'm super proud of myself that I could win this tournament, because actually, I believed always in it, and my husband too. That's why we kept also going, because there was always this belief that I can win big tournaments and that I can do great things on the court."
Family affair: In their only previous meeting, Maria had beaten Anisimova in Beijing qualifying back in 2018. All these years later, the World No.86 defeated her again with her slice-and-dice game, carving her way to a win after 1 hour and 23 minutes of play.
With her daughters 11-year-old Charlotte and 4-year-old Cecilia joining husband/coach Charles in the front row of the stands, Maria became the oldest singles champion on the Hologic WTA Tour since another returning mother, Serena Williams, won the 2020 Auckland title aged 38.
"It's such a special moment for all of us, like a family together," Maria said. "We won this trophy together, because we stick together and we are doing everything together. So it's not like only me that I won this trophy today. It's like my whole family won this trophy."
Happy return: It is fitting that a veteran player won the title here, given that this was the first time since 1973 that WTA tennis has been contested at the prestigious Queen's Club in London. Fifty-two years after Olga Morozova won the most recent Queen's Club WTA title, Maria follows her on the championship trophy.
With the win, Maria maintained her undefeated record in WTA singles finals, improving to 4-0 when a title is on the line. The German won her first WTA title on grass at Mallorca in 2018, and then she became a Bogota expert, winning that clay-court event back-to-back in 2022 and 2023.
Sunday, though, marked Maria's first career final above WTA 250-level. The step up in level did not faze her, and after beating Top 20 players Karolina Muchova View Profile , Elena Rybakina View Profile and Madison Keys View Profile consecutively to make the championship match, Maria completed her quartet of high-caliber wins with one final triumph.
The only other time Maria had defeated multiple Top 20 players at a single event was during one of her other spectacular grass-court runs -- she ousted Maria Sakkari View Profile and Jelena Ostapenko View Profile en route to the 2022 Wimbledon semifinals. And, in fact, those were her most recent Top 20 wins until this week.
"In [2022] when I played Wimbledon, I mean, I was fighting for every point, but there were sometimes like a few doubts," Maria said. "This week, actually, I really found my confidence. I was believing in myself from the first till the last point that I could win this. Every single match, actually."
Tale of the tape: Ranked at a new career-high of World No. 15, Anisimova also had a wonderful week, besting Top 10 players Emma Navarro View Profile and Zheng Qinwen back-to-back in the last two rounds. It was the first time Anisimova had advanced beyond the quarterfinals of a grass-court WTA event.
But Maria's combo of slices, speed and big serves had proved too strong on the grass this week for every player she faced, and Anisimova was no exception. At one point, Maria won 12 points in a row during her run to a 4-1 lead in Sunday's first set.
Anisimova cranked a rally backhand winner to pull back on serve at 4-3, but Maria refused to yield the momentum, scampering all over the court to win the next two games and clinch the one-set lead. Even with her unorthodox shots, Maria hit only three unforced errors in the first set.
In the second set, Maria raced out to a 4-1 lead again. The German's seventh ace of the day gave her a 5-3 lead, and she served out the match two games later to attain victory.
Muhammad, Schuurs win doubles title: The Queen's Club doubles final followed on Andy Murray Arena, and No. 4 seeds Asia Muhammad and Demi Schuurs squeaked past No. 2 seeds Anna Danilina and Diana Shnaider View Profile 7-5, 6-7(3), [10-4] to take the title.
Muhammad and Schuurs were unable to convert two championship points in the second set, but the American-Dutch duo took command in the decisive match-tiebreak to claim victory after 1 hour and 44 minutes.
It's another big title this year for Muhammad and Schuurs, who won WTA 1000 Indian Wells in March. This is Muhammad's 13th career WTA doubles title, and Schuurs' 21st.
