Contesting a fourth-round Grand Slam match for the first time, world No.103 Tatjana Maria saved two match points in the second set en route to taking out last week’s Eastbourne finalist Jelena Ostapenko in a three-set thriller on Wimbledon‘s Court One, 5-7 7-5 7-5.
Maria had two break points to go 4-1 up in the first set, but the 12th-seeded Ostapenko managed to hold serve then and step by step built her comeback to take the first set. The second set was relatively similar, only that this time Maria was the one coming back — from 4-1 down, the German fought back to win 7-5, saving two match points in the process.
With players locked at 4-4 in the third set, we couldn’t guess who would prevail. Then as Maria edged a break, it looked like she was going to win this thriller, but Ostapenko earned a love break to prolong the rollercoaster, 5-5.
In the end, it was the mom of two Maria who was better in the last two games, and victoriously finished the third 12-game set of this match to progress into the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.
The 34-year-old Maria is the oldest player left in the women’s singles draw. She returned from maternity leave just under a year ago and was ranked outside the Top 250 as recently as this March.
