At 34, Maria reaches Wimbledon semifinals for 1st time

This year’s Wimbledon semi-finalist is the oldest woman in the draw.

She’s only been back on the circuit for less than a year since giving birth to her second child, but Tatjana Maria has already reached the semifinals in her 35th appearance at a Grand Slam tournament. On No. 1 Court on Tuesday, she defeated another German, 22-year-old Jule Niemeier, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.

Maria testified in court that she had recently given birth a year prior. “It’s insane.”

To reach the Wimbledon semi-finals after turning 34 is a remarkable achievement for Maria, who is making her 10th appearance at All England Club. In 2015, she made it to the third round of the competition. At the other three major tennis events, she didn’t even advance to the second round.

This year hasn’t been a cakewalk.

Just a few months ago, she was not even close to making it into the top 250 in the global rankings. The U.S. Open, Australian Open, and French Open all saw her lose in the first round when she returned from maternity leave.

That all changed this year at Wimbledon on the grass courts.

Maria defeated five-seeded Maria Sakkari in the third round and 12-seeded Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open winner, in the fourth round on route to the quarterfinals.