A 34-year-old tennis star has said she is “so proud to be a mum” while managing to storm through to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.
Germany’s Tatjana Maria told cheering spectators that being a mother to two children is “the best feeling in the world” after she won Sunday’s game against Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko.
Court One spectators initially cheered Ostapenko but the crowd began to boo when she kicked a chair aside in frustration.
Maria, from Bad Saulgau in southern Germany, used her post-match interview on the court to express her pride in her family life.
She told the crowd: “It makes me so proud to be a mum.
“It’s the best feeling in the world.
“I love to be a mother and I love my two kids and to be able to do this together.
“Everybody is so nice and supporting us, and believing in me and my family.
“It makes it so special.”
Tennis star and 41-year-old mother Serena Williams also played in the singles tournament this year but was knocked out in the first round.