Ski lover Thamm eyes triumphant run at Roland Garros Junior Champs

As Mariella Thamm continued her impressive winning streak at the Roland Garros Junior Championships, her ease of movement on the red clay and the timing of her sliding was superb.

A winner on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors at J300 Charleroi-Marcinelle in Belgium on the weekend, the 16-year-old began her campaign in Paris in impressive fashion.

The No. 13 seed produced a comprehensive performance against Ukrainian Antonina Sushkova and was successful, winning 6-2 6-3, in an opening round match lasting one hours and 13 minutes. 

It was her 29th junior triumph in a year that began in Australia at J300 Traralgon and has seen her claim titles in her native Germany at J200 Oberhaching, J200 Valencia and J300 Villena along with her success last week in Belgium. 

There was little time to celebrate her most recent success given the importance of Roland Garros, with Thamm instead locking in on the routine that has sparked her winning streak.

“I actually have good confidence because when I'm playing so good like last week, I'm saying, ‘okay, let's do the same this week’,” she said. 

“I came to Paris on Saturday night and I was just trying to focus on the important things like my warm up and my recovery and eating good food and physio, so I could play good tennis again.

“I was a bit nervous or a bit tired at the beginning but then I found my rhythm, and I think I played with good defence today. I think I also played a good offense today and I'm really happy with my match. 

“For the first round, it was great tennis. She was a tough player, actually, because she's playing really aggressive, but I think I managed that really good to win. I'm really happy.”

Thamm plays South Korea’s Ui Su Jeong, who looked sharp when defeating Sofie Hettlerova 6-3 6-0, in the second round.

It is not surprising that the No. 20 ranked junior moved so well on clay given she grew up on the shifting surface, but this skill is arguably enhanced because of another athletic love.

Similarly to the Italian champion Jannik Sinner, she is a talented skier who hit the slopes for the first time at the age of two. 

The reigning Wimbledon champion moves extremely well on all courts and it almost looks like he is picking off slalom gates when running down tennis balls.

Thamm, who last year hit with Mirra Andreeva in Stuttgart, has a similar talent. But prowess on the court comes first, which is why she is minimising her time on the slopes.

“I have always loved skiing but I’m not doing it very often, because it is a dangerous sport to get an injury, so I need to watch out,” she said.

“I enjoyed it so much and I was really good, but now I am playing tennis and, of course, that is far more important.”

When Thamm, who was born in Mönchengladbach, has time away from the courts, she loves to spend time with friends and her pet labrador named Joey, who she cannot wait to see.

“When I’m at home, I try to spend so much time with him, and when I’m away playing tennis, I love that, but I do miss him a lot,” she said.

A full list of results from the 2026 Roland Garros Junior Championships can be found here.