Straight from the final to the MSC Hamburg Ladies Open! The main round of the WTA 250 tournament began on Monday at the Rothenbaum in Hamburg. And Tatjana Maria was actually there on time. That's really not something to be taken for granted and an expression of her motto: "The most important thing is that you love what you do!" And she loves tennis. Germany's number one was still in the final on the grass courts of Newport on the east coast of the USA on Sunday. Although Maria lost 6:2, 4:6 and 2:6 to Caty McNally, this appearance in the final was also an expression of her terrific form. At the age of 37, she is having the tennis summer of her life and has thus shot up to 36th place in the world rankings.
Time change? Never mind. Different surface? Never mind. Need for rest? No, thank you. "Fortunately, I don't need that many breaks," she says with a laugh. Tatjana Maria, who won sensationally in Queens in June, simply always wants to play tennis.
The fans at the Rothenbaum should now also get to see this. That's why, after the final in Newport, she flew directly across the Atlantic. Andrea Petkovic, the tournament ambassador of the MSC Hamburg Ladies Open, is travelling in a similarly global way. She also travelled straight from a final to Hamburg! On Sunday, "Petko" had covered the men's final for television from Wimbledon.
"We'll see some top tennis here - and I'm looking forward to it," Petkovic is convinced. She would like to see "four Germans in the semi-finals" - but her favourite is still France's Lois Boisson, who has risen to stardom thanks to her completely unexpected semi-final appearance at the French Open: "She's certainly 100 per cent here in Hamburg," says Petkovic, explaining her prediction. Clay is also Boisson's favourite surface.
Speaking of clay: Petkovic and Tatjana Maria have played each other four times in their careers at WTA level. Petkovic won on grass and hard court, but on clay Tatjana Maria was twice too good for "Petko", who is full of praise for Maria: "I've always been a great admirer of Tatjana. I would love to have her energy. Now she's gone up another five notches. This energy, the joy, the passion that she puts into her work - and as a 37-year-old mother of two - it's absolutely inspiring."
And so the question is, who will the tireless Tatjana Maria be too good for on the clay of Hamburg's Rothenbaum? She will face Viktoriya Tomova in the first round and will be looking for her first win against the Bulgarian in their fourth clash.
