German qualifier Tatjana Maria made history by becoming the first women`s champion at The Queen`s Club in 52 years, defeating America`s Amanda Anisimova in straight sets in the final.
Maria secured a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the eighth seed, Amanda Anisimova, in the HSBC Championships final. The match lasted one hour and 24 minutes and marked the biggest title win of Maria`s career, which she celebrated with her two daughters, husband, and coach, Charles-Edouard Maria.
On her path to the title, the 37-year-old overcame formidable opponents including Australian Open champion Madison Keys, 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina, and Karolina Muchova.
The former Wimbledon semi-finalist now holds the record as the oldest WTA 500 champion since 2020. This record was previously held by Serena Williams, who, like Maria, returned to tennis after childbirth and won in Auckland at age 38.
“It means a lot to me, because I`m 37 years old and I won this trophy today,” Maria stated. She also mentioned her desire to continue playing for at least two more years, specifically hoping to play doubles with her eldest daughter once she`s old enough.
“In the past, people often told me I was too old,” Maria added, “but I think I`m a good example that you can still win significant titles even at my age.”
“I`m incredibly proud of myself for winning this tournament, because I always believed I could, and my husband did too.”
“That belief is why we kept going – the conviction that I could win big tournaments and achieve great things on the tour. So, I am genuinely proud of this accomplishment.”
Anisimova appeared to struggle with Maria`s slice shots, winning only 55 percent of her service points in the first set and generally playing defensively throughout the match.
The world No. 87, Anisimova, continued to commit errors in the second set, allowing Maria to capitalize and establish a double break advantage.
Serving for the match and the biggest title of her career at 5-4, Maria sealed the historic victory when Anisimova hit a forehand wide.
Visibly emotional and perhaps in disbelief, the German qualifier covered her face before heading to celebrate with her family, while Anisimova remained in her chair, looking stunned.
Maria is the first female winner at Queen`s since Olga Morozova (a former coach of Andy Murray) and commemorated the occasion by signing `queen of Queen`s` on the camera lens.
Maria entered the WTA 500 tournament ranked 86th, but her victory is expected to propel her to No. 43 in the rankings when they are updated on Monday. This is also the day Emma Raducanu is set to officially overtake Katie Boulter as British No 1.
The German, a semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 2022, had previously won her first grass-court WTA title in Mallorca in 2018, followed by two consecutive clay-court titles in Bogota.
Fritz Defeats Top Seed Zverev to Claim Stuttgart Open Title
In other tennis news, American Taylor Fritz won his first title of the year by defeating top seed Alexander Zverev of Germany in the Stuttgart Open final with a score of 6-3, 7-6 (7-0).
This defeat continues Zverev`s difficulties on grass courts; he has yet to win a title on this surface.
In the first set, both players held serve until Zverev committed two double faults, giving Fritz a crucial break and a 5-3 lead.
The second set saw strong serving from both players.
Zverev saved the only break point opportunity in the set, but Fritz dominated the ensuing tie-break, winning seven consecutive points to secure his ninth career title and fourth on grass.
Fritz, who did not face a single break point in the match and hit 11 aces, commented on the ATP Tour website: “It was not so great a clay season, so to come here and start the grass season off perfectly, I am super happy to get the title and to do it here.”
