(Reuters) -German qualifier Tatjana Maria capped an incredible week in London as she defeated American eighth seed Amanda Anisimova 6-3 6-4 on Sunday to become the first woman to win a title at Queen’s Club in over half a century.
The victory marked the end of an extraordinary nine-day stretch for the mother-of-two, ranked 86 in the world, having stunned second seed and Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the previous round.
The 37-year-old becomes the oldest player to claim a WTA title since Serena Williams in Auckland 2020. She dropped only one set en route to the title and her dream run also included victories over Kazakh fourth seed Elena Rybakina and Czech sixth seed Karolina Muchova.
Maria dominated Anismova with big serves and earned an early break in the first set. She won 12 points in a row as she raced to a 4-1 lead and then held off a brief Anisimova fightback to close out the set.
Maria carried her momentum into the second as she again surged into a 4-1 lead. Her seventh ace of the match helped her move up 5-3, and she served out the match two games later to clinch her first title in over two years.
“A dream come true. (When) I came here, I was never thinking I could hold the trophy at the end. When we arrived my little girl said ‘wow that’s a nice trophy, so big’ and I said ‘OK let’s go for it I will try to win it’,” Maria said.
“In the end I’ve won it, it’s incredible. So happy. Everything is possible if you believe in it. You go your way, doesn’t matter which it is but you have to keep going. I want to show this to my kids and hopefully they are proud. It’s amazing.”
Maria threw her arms up as she watched Anisimova’s forehand sail wide on match point, before both players shared an affectionate embrace at the net.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we see you in the Wimbledon final because you really had me running out there today,” Anisimova said.
Having started the week as world number 86, Maria is projected to move up to world number 43 when the new rankings are released on Monday.
The Wimbledon warm-up event at Queen’s welcomed back female competitors for the first time since 1973, when the Soviet Union’s Olga Morozova won the title.
Wimbledon runs from June 30 to July 13.
(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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