Women’s Professional Tennis returned to the Queen’s Club in London in 2025, this happened after 52 years. The 2025 Queen’s champion, Maria revealed she thought she would get a wildcard after having to play two qualifying matches. However, she did not receive one as all four went to British players.
“I think with all the respect of what I did last year, I was pretty sure to get a wildcard or I was hoping to get a wildcard,” Maria told reporters after having beaten Briton Lily Miyazaki and Uzbek Kamilla Rakhimova to reach the first round.
The German, became the oldest player at 37-years-old to win a WTA 500 title after she defeated Amanda Anisimova in last year’s tournament.
“It was not, like, five years ago, it was last year and especially this tournament, and to come back like a champion, I hoped and I thought I would get a wildcard. I was surprised when I got the message from (tournament director) Laura Robson saying all the wildcards would go to the British players, which I understand of course but you know as a champion, it’s tough for me (to accept).”
Maria further added that her daughters were her inspiration to play, “Yesterday, I wanted to win also for my girls to stay as long as possible because they really love to be here and they love the tournament.”
She also said people came up to her, speaking with her, “A lot of members here (Queen’s) came to me and said, ‘really we don’t understand why you didn’t get the wildcard’, so it was super nice.”
While on the court, Romania’s Jacqueline Cristian defeated Zheng Qinwen, the Olympic Champion, 6-4, 7-6 (4). This resulted in Qinwen’s exit, while last year she had made it to the semi-final.
