TEMPLETON, Calif., October 3, 2026 (by Steve Pratt)
With her husband/coach and two children watching closely, top-seeded Tatjana Maria used her unorthodox game style, slicing on both the forehand and backhand side, to advance to the semifinals of the Central Coast Tennis Classic, a $100,000 World Tennis Tour and USTA Pro Circuit women’s tournament taking place all week at the Templeton Tennis Ranch.
At 39, Germany’s Maria is the oldest player on the WTA Tour ranked in the top 100. On Friday, the 2022 Wimbledon semifinalist won her third straight match, dropping just three games. Following two 6-1, 6-2 results, Maria beat unseeded American Malaika Rapolu, 6-0, 6-3. She next faces Britain’s Ella McDonald, a 6-4, 6-3 winner over 17-year-old Kristina Penickova, who trains full-time in Florida but is a Northern California native.
After her match, Maria was asked whether she preferred the smaller, relaxed environment of the Central Coast Tennis Classic to the buzz and hype of the US Open and other top-tier WTA events she plays in.
“I like this kind of tournament,” Maria said. “I can spend more time with my family. A lot of times the WTA tournaments are the same, and this is just different.”
Maria is coached by her husband, the former French player Charles-Edouard Maria. She was also watched by her 12-year-old daughter Charlotte and 5-year-old Cici. “For me it’s the best in the world,” Maria said of traveling with her small entourage. “Since I became a mom, I love to travel with my family. We are doing it together. For the kids, I think it’s such a nice way to grow up.”
Maria said she was a young child when she first watched Steffi Graf and decided to copy her style of play. “I guess I was pretty young,” she said. “I had a two-handed backhand but then switched because I saw my slice was winning me more points. It was tough at first to change.”
She said her children are her “biggest motivation” right now. “My daughter Charlotte has a dream to someday play on the tour like me, and hopefully someday we can play doubles together in a WTA event.”
In the other semifinal, No. 8-seeded Madison Brengle beat qualifier Amelie Van Impe from Belgium, 6-0, 6-4, and 17-year-old Julietta Pareja came back to beat No. 7 seed Caroline Dolehide, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. Both matches were delayed for 90 minutes because of the heat rule as temperatures reached the low 90s in the afternoon.
The singles semifinals will take place Saturday at 5 p.m. PT, with Maria facing McDonald and Brengle taking on Pareja on Stadium Court.
The doubles final is set for Saturday at 11 a.m., and it will be an all-American affair as No. 3 Savannah Broadus and Allura Zamarripa will face unseeded Whitney Osuigwe and Akasha Urhobo.
