Tatjana Maria (née Malek; born 8 August 1987) is a German professional tennis player. In January 2024, she reached her career-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.

2017–2020: Top 50, first WTA Tour title

Maria reached a career-high ranking in the top 50 in November 2017. She won her first singles WTA Tour title at the 2018 Mallorca Open defeating Anastasija Sevastova.

2022: First major semifinal at Wimbledon

Maria won her second title at the Copa Colsanitas, defeating Laura Pigossi in the final. At the Wimbledon Championships she defeated Astra Sharma, Sorana Cîrstea and then world No. 5, Maria Sakkari (her fifth top 10 win ), and, in the round of 16, the 12th-seeded Jeļena Ostapenko, winning after saving two match points. This made her the oldest player to debut in a Wimbledon quarterfinal. 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, and the sixth woman from Germany. 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. She was awarded the WTA Comeback Player of the Year for her performance in 2022.

2023–2024: United Cup debut, third title, Olympics qualification

Maria defended her title at the 2023 Copa Colsanitas in Bogotá, defeating Peyton Stearns in the final. 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. She was also selected as the No. 2 WTA player for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Personal life

Her father Heinrich Malek was a Polish international handball player originally from Zabrze. 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, and their second daughter was born in April 2021.

Performance timelines

''Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Olympic Games and Billie Jean King Cup are included in win–loss records. ''

Singles

Current through the 2024 WTA Tour.

Doubles

WTA career finals

Singles: 3 (3 titles)

Doubles: 8 (4 titles, 4 runner-ups)

WTA Challenger finals

Singles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-ups)

Doubles: 1 (runner–up)

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 32 (18 titles, 14 runner–ups)

Doubles: 25 (15 titles, 10 runner–ups)

Wins over top-10 players

Maria has a 5–20 win-loss record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.

Billie Jean King Cup performance

Note: Levels of Billie Jean King Cup in which Germany did not participate in a particular year are marked "NP".