Tatjana Maria dreams of playing a tennis double together with her daughter. But can the 37-year-old stay at a top level long enough?
Wimbledon – Tatjana Maria, the experienced tennis player from Germany, still has big plans on the tennis stage despite her 37 years. While many of their age are already thinking of resignation, Maria has a different dream: she wants to compete in doubles with her eleven -year -old daughter Charlotte. “My dream is to play for as long as we can play a double together,” said Maria in an interview. This vision is not only a personal goal, but would also be a symbolic highlight in her career.
With family on a tennis tour: daughter trains with world rankings
Maria is on the professional tour with her family, including the younger daughter Cecilia. Tennis is in second place for you, because the family is the most important thing. Nevertheless, she continues to dream of a Wimbledon victory and hopes that her body will participate to realize this dream. “If my body takes part and I feel good, I will continue to play,” she emphasizes.
Charlotte, who trains with her mother every day and plays tournaments every day, is considered a promising talent. She even had the opportunity to train with the world ranking aryna Sabalenka. “In any case, it was super nice for her,” reports Maria proudly. The goal is to build Charlotte so that she could play on the WTA tour in a few years. Maria herself would prefer to play in doubles with Charlotte instead of competing against her. “Against her, that would be a bit hard,” she admits.
Lebron James showed it
With her dream of standing on the side of the offspring on the sports field, Maria is not alone. Basketball superstar LeBron James formulated the desire to play with his son Bronny in the NBA in 2018. The then 33-year-old promised to continue playing with a slightly humorous undertone as long as the highest American basketball league until he was 13-year-old’s son.
Less than six years later, in 2024, the Los Angeles Lakers drafted with the 55th Pick Lebron “Bronny” James Jr. and thus form the first father-son duo in the history of the NBA. Everything could have turned out very differently, which Bronny suffered a cardiac arrest in training at the age of only 18, due to a congenital heart defect. Fortunately, he was able to relax completely again and is now standing with the Lakers before his second season, which could possibly be the last one for his father, who is now 40 years old.
But also Lebron’s second son, Bryce, also indicates with his 17 years and his talent to make the leap into the NBA soon. Perhaps James Senior has in the tank for the family reunion in the best basketball league in the world.
A race against time
Also at Maria, age will become a crucial factor, after all you have to grant her daughter a few years of development time at the age of eleven. But if Charlotte should actually have inherited her mother’s talent and Tatjana can hit the balls over the net at the highest level, the Maria family could imitate the James and also write sports history. In the meantime, Tatjana Maria may also be able to fulfill her Wimbledon dream. (hbr)
