The German veteran is up there at the top of the grass-court draw once again!

Tatjana Maria wasn’t supposed to be here. The world No. 117 has arrived in Eastbourne as a player with nothing to lose and everything to gain, and since Monday she hasn’t lost anything. Paolini knocked out 6-4 6-3 in R1, Zakharova swept aside 6-2 6-1 in 69 minutes, Valentova dismissed in the quarterfinals. The 37-year-old German is playing her best grass-court tennis since her title at Queen’s in 2025. Her sliced game and variations, her lefty angles, her ability to constantly change the tempo of the rallies are exactly the ingredients that can destabilize players who want to impose their power. That’s what she did to Paolini. The question is whether she can reproduce the same result against a player of a different caliber on grass.

Because Ostapenko on grass in Eastbourne is a different story. The Latvian beat Udvardy after coming back from a set down, then destroyed Sönmez, and her serve, with 78.3% of points won on first serve, remains a weapon Maria has not yet faced this week at any of these levels. The head-to-head between the two players is nonexistent on grass. Ostapenko can self-destruct; she does it regularly. But she can also decide in 40 minutes that the match is over. Maria will look to slow things down, mix it up, frustrate. Ostapenko will look to speed up, hit hard, dominate. Two diametrically opposed playing philosophies on a surface that generally rewards the latter.