Maria’s first appearance after Wimbledon
If you get knocked out early in a Grand Slam tournament, it’s not uncommon to go straight to a Challenger tournament to regain your rhythm or perhaps to build up some confidence. But if you get far at Wimbledon, you usually take a break to put the strain behind you – not so Tatjana Maria. The mother of two will be competing again this week at the WTA tournament in Lausanne.
Her last match was the semi-final on Centre Court at Wimbledon last Thursday. In the meantime, the 34-year-old has travelled on to Switzerland. There she will meet the French qualifier Leolia Jeanjean in the first round. After the well-known history of Maria, one does not have to worry about being the favourite in this match.
However, it is not easy to keep the tension high after the biggest success of his career. It is a different story whether you are the focus of attention in Wimbledon and let yourself be carried away by the atmosphere, or compete in a 250 tournament in Lausanne. Nevertheless, ahead of the duel between Leolia Jeanjean and Tatjana Maria, we give a prediction of a win for the German.
The 26-year-old Frenchwoman has already been able to familiarise herself with the clay of Lausanne in the qualifying. That should definitely be an advantage, especially as the German is now back on clay for her first match after the highlights on the hallowed turf at Church Road.
Leolia Jeanjean – statistics & current form
Current world ranking: 155
Position in the seedings: unseeded
If truth be told, Leolia Jeanjean has not pulled out any big trees in her career so far. Now 26, the Frenchwoman has not managed to reach the top 100 of the world rankings. However, she is currently on her carrier high and is at least in the process of establishing herself in the top 150 women’s ranking.
Through qualifying into the main draw
She owes her current upswing to a wildcard at the French Open, where she was allowed to compete in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. Surprisingly, she also defeated the Czech Karolina Pliskova there and has already made a name for herself outside France. Now it’s time to strike while the iron is hot and collect more points on the WTA Tour.
The grass-court season was rather unhappy after she was eliminated in the first round in Berlin and failed to qualify in Wimbledon. In Lausanne, however, the Frenchwoman could now attract attention again after she already successfully survived two matches in the qualifiers on Sunday and Monday.
She first won safely against Germany’s Lena Papadakis 6-3 and 6-3, and the 26-year-old then beat Japan’s Yuki Naito 6-0 and 7-5 in the final round. Perhaps she has what it takes to make life difficult for the Wimbledon semi-finalist as well, although between Leolia Jeanjean and Tatjana Maria we’re looking more at the odds for Maria to win 2-0.
Tatjana Maria – Statistics & current form
Current world ranking: 98
Position in the seedings: unseeded
Actually, it’s a shame that there were no points for the world rankings at Wimbledon this year. So Tatjana Maria remains at position 98, but still benefits from the Protected Ranking after the birth of her second daughter. In addition, there will certainly be a wildcard at some tournaments after her great performances at Wimbledon.
From Wimbledon back to the Bundesliga
The story went around the world. Tatjana Maria, now 34 and a mother of two, enters the semi-finals at Church Road. In retrospect, this success can certainly be called a sensation, which earned her more than 600,000 dollars in prize money. Nevertheless, the fun of playing tennis is still in the foreground.
At the weekend, she directly supported her national league team from TC Bredeney, which, despite a defeat, secured the championship title. Her presence on site alone, even if she did not play, shows how grounded Tatjana Maria continues to be. Despite the many matches in Wimbledon and many media appointments, she is now competing in Lausanne in order to go far there too and work her way up the rankings again a little.
After five wins in the last six matches, there is a lot of confidence in her abilities, especially since she has also won against top players like Maria Sakkari or Jelena Ostapenko with her terrific slice. Therefore, we expect a win in the first round in Lausanne and stick to our prediction of a win for the German in the duel between Leolia Jeanjean and Tatjana Maria.
Leolia Jeanjean – Tatjana Maria Direct comparison / H2H balance
Leolia Jeanjean is in the best phase of her career at the age of 26, but generally continues to play Challenger tournaments. However, Tatjana Maria has also spent a relatively large amount of time in the second division of world tennis in recent years. Nevertheless, the two ladies have never met and will play their first match against each other on Wednesday.
Leolia Jeanjean – Tatjana Maria Tip
Leolia Jeanjean certainly has the advantage that she has already been in Lausanne for a few days and has been able to gain match practice there. She won two matches in the qualifying rounds and made it into the main draw. Especially on clay, she has shown recently, also with the victory over Karolina Pliskova at the French Open, that she is competitive.
In the case of Tatjana Maria, we will have to see how well she copes with the change from the sacred grass in Wimbledon to the clay in Lausanne. Generally speaking, there has been a lot of hype about her and her family in the last two weeks. It might not be so easy to concentrate on a match against a qualifier in Lausanne again.
However, if the 34-year-old German can focus on her strengths and fully commit to the tournament in Lausanne, she should reach the second round. Maybe it will also do her good that she is not quite so much in the public eye in Switzerland now. In any case, between Leolia Jeanjean and Tatjana Maria, we have decided to play the betting odds on an easy win for the German.
