Born on August 8th, 1987, Tatjana Maria is a professional German female tennis player. Making her first appearance in 2001 on the ITF Circuit at the age of 14, Tatjana progressed to become one of the top 100 professional female tennis players in the world. Her highest achieved ranked was 62 in July of 2015. Tatjana is known for her success on hard surface and has won 13 ITF titles in singles as well as 1 WTA and 15 ITF titles in doubles.
Personal Background
Tatjana Maria was born as Tatjana Malek in 1987 to her father Heinrich Malek and mother Margit Malek. Avid tennis fans and players themselves, Tatjana’s parents introduced her to the sport from an extremely early age, just 4 years old. She also has two brothers who both play tennis named Daniel and Matthias.
On April 8, 2013, Tatjana married Charles Edouard Maria, also a tennis player. In addition to being Tatjana’s husband, Charles is also one of her coaches. The couple had their first child, Charlotte Maria, on December 20, 2013.
In addition to tennis, Tatjana Maria has also stated that she is a fan of handball.
Early Career
Tatjana Maria lost her junior debut in 2001 against fellow German player Valerie Meise at an ITF Junior Classic match in Austria. She won he first ITF junior match later that year against Victoria Wletz before losing to Yoo-mi Jung in that same tournament.
In 2002 she continued to perform on the ITF circuit, doing relatively well but did not bring home any titles. Her first title came in 2003 on the ITF circuit for doubles. Over the next 2 years she tried to qualify for WTA and in 2005, she lost 4 different WTA qualification matches.
Professional Career
2006 was the first year that she was in WTA main draw matches. She lost in both Luxembourg and then Stuttgart. That same year she was able to capture two titles on the ITF circuit for singles matches.
By 2007, she made her debut as a top 100 player after her Berlin matches, ranking at number 92. She won another singles title on the ITF Circuit. Over the next few years, she continued to win ITF titles in both singles and doubles matches. It was in 2012 that she was able to bring home a WTA title for a doubles match.
After Wimbledon in 2013, Tatjana Maria took time off from her professional career due to her and her new husband having a child together. She returned as a professional in 2014 and won 3 additional singles titles and two doubles titles on the ITF Circuit.
2015 was a great year for Tatjana Maria, marking her 3rd top 100 season after 2007 and 2009 and reached her highest ever ranking of 62 in July of that year.
Tennis Playing Style
As a player, Tatjana Maria is best known for her effective play on hard surface. In her early career, she utilized a double-handed backhand technique often but as her career progressed she is known for being a right-handed one-handed backhand player. Her overall worst surface is clay in singles but in her doubles matches, she has a better record on clay surfaces than hard surfaces. Tatjana is a well-rounded player that is able to utilize a balance of power and speed to her advantage.