Wimbledon News: Mum-of-two Tatjana Maria and her close friend Ons Jabeur arrange the Wimbledon semi-final

Maria is participating in her 46th Grand Slam and, before the current edition, has never crossed the third round in any of them. The 34-year-old German has become the eighth player born in 1987 to reach the semi-finals of a major. The first to hit the mark was 17-year-old Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon in 2004. 

Now, Tatjana Maria reached her career-high of 46 in November 2017 after coming back from her first maternity leave in 2014. She is also the fourth-lowest ranked player in the Wimbledon semi-finals since 1984. She trails Serena Williams (number 181 in 2018), Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (number 134 in 1999) and Zheng Jie (number 133 in 2008). Maria's form underwent a tremendous change in April 2022 when she won her second Hologic WTA Tour title in Bogota as a qualifying number 237. She will encounter world number three Ons Jabeur in the semi-finals, as all the remaining players, including Tatjana, await their maiden Grand Slam final. 

Third seed Ons Jabeur recovers from a set down to set up a Wimbledon semi-final

Ons Jabeur made history on Wimbledon's hallowed Centre Court by being the first Arab woman to reach the semi-finals of the Grand Slam. She extends her previous record of getting to the quarterfinals in 2021. The third seed resurfaced from a set down to show Marie Bouzkova the door in Tuesday's quarterfinals in 3-6, 6-1, 6-1. Jabeur had lost to eventual champion Sofia Kenin at the 2020 Australian Open and Aryna Sabalenka on London's lawns a year back. Now, she will face fellow first-time semifinalist Tatjana Maria, who also came from a set down in beating fellow German Jule Niemeier in Tuesday's quarterfinal. It will mark their first meeting in four years. 

Having conceded her two previous Grand Slam quarterfinals in straight sets, Jabeur fumbled in the first few minutes of her match against Bouzkova. She lost the first set to her determined Czech foe, but in sets two and three, she broke Bouzkova's serve six times to pocket the match in one hour and 47 minutes. She secured 30 winners to 27 unforced errors in victory and hit 14 errors (to 10 winners) in the opener. She ultimately secured more winners than errors in the second and third sets. She bagged eight straight games from 2-1 in the second set, and after losing her serve in the fifth game of the decider, she fought back to win eight of the last nine points.