Wimbledon 2022: “Supermom” Maria joins a very exclusive semi-final club

It’s a special club with a membership reading like the most stellar women of the last 50 years. Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Chrissie Evert and Venus and Serena Williams share the exclusivity of having battled through to the Wimbledon semi-finals beyond their 34th birthday.

But they’ve just welcomed a newcomer - Germany’s Tatjana Maria who arrives with her two daughters in tow, nappy bag at the ready, because the youngest was only born last year. “It’s crazy, it’s a dream,” she said after beating her compatriot Jule Niemeier 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.

“One year ago I just gave birth,” she told No 1 Court to huge cheers and the encouragement of working mums everywhere. That’s Cecilia, 15 months old. Every morning during the tournament Maria has practiced with Charlotte, eight, and kept to the routine for her first appearance in any Slam’s last eight.

After a cracking contest, with a long hug at the net for Niemeier, competing in her debut Wimbledon at 22 and surely a future star, Maria was asked if her return to top-flight tennis prompted scoffing, as it was “ridiculous” to even try. “I mean, there are a lot of people who never believed I would come back,” she said. “I reached the top 50 with Charlotte and everybody was doubting, but I’m showing everybody that I’m still here and that I’m a fighter.”

Maria at this tournament has been relentlessly portrayed as a mother first and a tennis player second. Does she mind that? “No, I love to talk about this,” she said. “For me the most important [role] in my life is to be a mom to my two kids. Nothing will change this.

“Yeah, I'm in the semi-finals of Wimbledon, it's crazy, but I'm still a mom. After this I will go and see my kids and do the same things with them I do every single