WHAT TATJANA MARIA'S QUEEN'S TRIUMPH TAUGHT US ABOUT MODERN WOMEN'S TENNIS

A memorable week in Queen's was capped off with a title for Tatjana Maria. (Getty/Luke Walker)

Earlier this month, Tatjana Maria pulled off one of the most surprising tournament wins in WTA history, as she claimed the Queen’s Club title.

The event, which featured a women's draw for the first time in over 50 years, saw Maria overcome several more highly fancied opponents en route to the title. The German made her way through qualifying before besting four Slam finalists in Leylah Fernandez, Karolína Muchová, Elena Rybakina and Madison Keys, as well as Amanda Anisimova in a truly remarkable week.

For a player who had only three WTA titles to her name and has still never been ranked inside the top-40, Maria's win at Queen's is only rivalled by her run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2022 in terms of career achievements. 

Of course, the common denominator of the 37-year-old's greatest successes is that they both took place on grass courts.

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Whilst Maria is undoubtedly an excellent grass court player, surprise results in the biggest women's events on grass have become more of a feature than a bug in recent years. 

The established order of women's tennis, dominated by big hitting and supreme athleticism, seemingly enters a state of disarray during the precious few weeks of grass court action.

None of the three previous Wimbledon champions have been top-16 seeds, albeit Rybakina, Markéta Vondroušová and Barbora Krejčíková are better players than their respective rankings at the time might indicate.

So what is it about the grass season that flips the world of women's tennis upside-down? The surface, it seems, acts as the ultimate equaliser in a sport dominated by extremes.

The state of play

Women's tennis has, with a handful of exceptions, been a kingdom ruled by power and athleticism for decades.

Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka, Madison Keys and Zheng Qinwen cleanly fit the mould, using their height and power to dictate from the back of the court with great success in recent seasons.

Even Jasmine Paolini, at just 163cm tall, has found a place near the top of the rankings with her pocket-rocket power style, whereas Iga Świątek has compensated for a lack of pure power with severe top spin, and Coco Gauff complements a massive serve with unmatched athleticism and defensive skills, a well-honed counter to her big-hitting foes.

Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro exemplify another approach, not so much relying on power of their own, but an ability to withstand and redirect the force coming from their opponent's racquet, although it is worth noting that these styles have not yet produced the success achieved by the biggest hitters. 

Nonetheless, the fact is clear that the most regular and reliable route to success on the WTA Tour has been built upon either harnessing your own power or blunting your opponent's power with speed and athleticism.

The grass conundrum

Whilst the prevalence of big hitting remains a feature on grass courts, the balance of power undeniably shifts.

Whereas historically grass may have been known to favour attacking tennis, with the ability to hit your opponent off the court almost before they can get a racquet to your shots, the surface today poses new and largely unresolved challenges to the peak of the women's game.

Queen's Club champion Maria is one of the most effective proponents of this new world order, employing a game style built around slice, drop shots and variety to unseat a series of the cleanest ball strikers on the planet.

Vondroušová and Krejčíková similarly found creative ways to win their respective Wimbledon titles, playing unconventional tennis which took advantage of their court craft, tennis IQ and deft hands to great effect.

Before them, Ash Barty and Ons Jabeur were particularly successful on grass and rarely beaten by the power game, which dominates so much of the WTA Tour, although Barty was a unicorn of sorts with her ability to dominate the entire tennis calendar using this unconventional approach.

In any case, more than any other surface or conditions, grass courts profoundly change the dynamic of modern women's tennis. Slices which cut through the court at uncomfortable speeds and heights, drop shots which stay lower and unreliable bounces coalesce to create an environment of noticeable discomfort for many of the best in the women's game.

The height and power of Sabalenka and Keys is harder to implement, Świątek has less time to effect her spins and weight of shot, whilst Gauff’s tailor-made game style to counteract big, flat, consistent hitters is instead challenged by variety and unpredictability.

The result: surprise champions and upsets galore.

So, who wins Wimbledon?

Many tennis observers have made the point that it feels like almost anyone in the women's draw is a realistic chance of winning Wimbledon this year. Such a sentiment is understandable, considering recent results on the surface.

Of course, one would be foolish to rule out a first Wimbledon crown for two-time semi-finalist Sabalenka, former junior Wimbledon champion Świątek, or the player who defeated Venus Williams and reached the fourth-round in her Wimbledon main draw debut, Gauff.

Winning the event will perhaps require a greater adjustment from the world's best than is necessary at any other time in the year, but each is more than capable of it.

The best players are still the best – but when the margins at the elite level of a sport are so fine, and the conditions of play make those margins even harder to define, the potential for chaos and surprises is tantalisingly apparent. 

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