Maria beats fellow German Niemeier for semi-final spot

LONDON : Experience overcame youth in the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Tuesday when 34-year-old Tatjana Maria beat Jule Niemeier, 22, 4-6 6-2 7-5 in an entertaining battle of German outsiders.

Both women started nervously, spraying errors on either side of the court but Niemeier, playing at her first Wimbledon, took the early initiative, breaking in the first game and grabbing the set when Maria, ranked 103, put a forehand wide.

Maria, who gave birth to her second child last year, upped her game in the second set, producing some telling returns, heavy slice and deft drop shots. She took the set with a volleyed winner on Niemeier's serve.

In a match of fluctuating fortunes, Niemeier could not find her rhythm on her biggest weapon - the serve - producing 11 double faults.

Neither woman had reached a Grand Slam quarter-final before but Maria held her nerve in the final set, breaking back after dropping her serve in the fifth game, then taking the match when Niemeier, on serve, netted on match point.