At 16 years old, Mariella Thamm is a player with high expectations resting on her shoulders.
While her career is just beginning, Thamm’s promise is evident by her inclusion, 18 months ago, as one of five players in Germany’s Porsche Tennis Talent Team.
Born in the city of Mönchengladbach, in the west of Germany near the Dutch border, she represents her country in the Junior Billie Jean King Cup.
Thamm began entering ITF/WWT events in October 2023, and has now played 19 tournaments in the W15 to W75 range.
She was a finalist at the W15 in Ogent-Sur-Marne, France, in 2024 and last year won two trophies at that level – in Kamen, Germany, then in Krško, Slovenia.
Courtesy of a wild card, she dipped her toe into the pro tour with the opportunity to qualify for the WTA 500 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in April last year. At that time, the huge step wasn’t possible for her and she lost in the first round of qualies to 3rd seed Erika Andreeva. But she fought for a decent scoreline of 3-6, 4-6. Afterwards, she was invited to practise with Erika’s sister, World No. 7 Mirra.
Six months later, she moved up a level from her usual WWT tournaments to a WTA 125, one rung below the main tour. After receiving a wild card straight into the main draw, Thamm arrived at the Mallorca Women’s Championships. It was a tough learning experience for her, losing in the first round to 2nd seed Mayar Sherif without winning a game.
This year, in the Junior grand slams, she made the second round of the Australian Open and the third round of both Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
On the back of her good showing on the Wimbledon grass, she gained a wild card into qualifying for the WTA 500 Bad Homburg Open.
In the first round, she drew the 4th seed, 28 year old Renata Zarazúa of Mexico.
A keen skiier, Thamm showed similar agility and balance on the fresh grass of Bad Homburg’s Court 1.
For the 39 minutes of the opening set, she served at a very healthy 73% of first serves and 100% of the second, but couldn’t capitalise on that success. Soon the score was 6-3 to her opponent.
Thamm regularly berated herself over any errors that came from her racquet or if she was outwitted by Zarazúa in a rally. Whenever she expressed that frustration to her coach, he calmly and simply encouraged her.
The second set lasted over twice as long at one hour, 24 minutes. Both players broke twice and Thamm saved five of seven break points.
In the tiebreak, Zarazúa rushed ahead 4-1 until the younger woman caught up.
But it was the Mexican who won the next three points and went through to the second round. She lost there but entered the main draw as a Lucky Loser.
As for Thamm, the loss still resulted in her biggest ever pay cheque – €5,505.
Thamm is already 180 cm tall and possesses an adult’s power off both sides of her groundstrokes.
Across the match in Bad Homburg, she produced three double faults but also the only two aces. And her serve will get stronger as she develops.
The tennis community in Germany will be keeping an eye on her progress with their fingers crossed.
Title photo by Porsche Tennis Talent Team