At 16 years old, the red-white-red tennis talent Lilli Tagger is already slowly gaining a foothold on the WTA tour.
After the East Tyrolean qualified two weeks ago at the ITF W35 tournament in Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy, she made it to the Belgian world number 221 in round one after successfully qualifying. Hanne Vandewinkel failed, but she proved last week that she learned the right lessons from this duel.
Another ITF W35 event was held at the same location and in this, after another successful qualification, she beat Vandewinkel this time in the round of 16 with 6:4, 7:6 (3).
It was only in the quarterfinals that Tagger had to admit defeat to eventual finalist Matilde Paoletti (WTA 841) 2:6, 2:6.
By making it to the last eight, the Lienz native, who is coached by former French Open winner Francesca Schiavone, will soon move into the top 1000 for the first time.
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