German qualifier Tatjana Maria capped an incredible week in London as she defeated American No. 8 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 world No. 86, having stunned second-seeded 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 in 2020. Maria dropped only one set en route to the title, and her dream run included victories over Kazakh fourth seed Elena Rybakina and Czech sixth seed Karolina Muchova.
The Wimbledon warm-up event at Queen’s welcomed back women competitors for the first time since 1973, when the Soviet Union’s Olga Morozova won the title.
Maria dominated Anisimova 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 comeback to close out the set.
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Maria carried her momentum into the second set as she again surged into a 4-1 lead. Her seventh ace of the match helped her take a 5-3 lead, 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,” Maria said. “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.’
“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 embraced 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.
Maria is projected to move up to No. 43 when the new rankings are released Monday. She previously won WTA titles on grass at Mallorca in 2018, triumphed twice on clay in Bogota in 2022 and 2023 and is a former Wimbledon semifinalist.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.