San Francisco Frontiers - Qualifier Maria completes fairytale run to Queen's title

The 37-year-old's victory secured the fourth singles title of her career and her first since 2023 on clay in Bogota.

World number 86 Maria is the first German to win a WTA 500 title since Angelique Kerber in 2018 in Sydney.

In the first women's tournament at Queen's since 1973, Maria is the event's first female champion since Russia's Olga Morozova 52 years ago.

When Morozova won in west London, the prize money was just £1,000 ($1,353).

Maria banked a cheque for £120,000 and more importantly earned a huge confidence boost ahead of Wimbledon, which starts on June 30.

The mother of two arrived at Queen's on a nine-match losing streak and had to survive two rounds of qualifying matches to reach the main draw.

Deploying her slice-heavy style to devastating effect, she stunned sixth seed Karolina Muchova, fourth seed Elena Rybakina and reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys en route to the final.

Maria, who has taken two maternity breaks from the WTA Tour, has never been past the second round of any Grand Slam except Wimbledon, where she reached the semi-finals in 2022.

But once again she proved a formidable force on grass, brushing aside Anisimova to secure her second title on the surface as her husband and young daughters Charlotte and Cecilia watched from courtside.

Anisimova has struggled to live up to her early success after reaching the French Open semi-finals aged 17 in 2019.

She took an eight-month break from tennis and dropped out of the top 400 after suffering with depression bought on by the scrutiny and expectations that came with being a teen prodigy.

The 23-year-old returned last year and won the Qatar Open this February, reaching a career-high 15th in the rankings before underlining her renaissance by defeating Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen to reach her first grass-court final.

However, Maria was too savvy on grass for Anisimova and the German landed the first blow with a break in the fourth game.

Anisimova hit back with a break of her own in the seventh, but Maria's dogged refusal to give up on a single rally eventually wore down the American.

She broke again for a 5-3 lead and closed out the first set with a series of perfectly placed serves.

Maria hit just three winners in the opening set but Anisimova's 10 unforced errors proved fatal.

It was the same story in the second set as Maria steadily worked the ball around the court, waiting for Anisimova to shoot herself in the foot.

Maria broke in the first and fifth games to press home her advantage and easily served out the victory to cap a memorable week.

P.Thomas--SFF