Rising Tennis Tracker · Player Dossier AUT

First Austrian to win a junior Grand Slam girls' singles title

Lilli Tagger

Right-handed with a one-handed backhand and coached by 2010 Roland-Garros champion Francesca Schiavone — the 2025 French Open girls' champion broke into the WTA top 100 at 18.

Career-High Rank

No. 74

13 JUL 2026

Current Rank

No. 97

13 APR 2026

Age

18

B. 17 FEB 2008

Junior Slam Title

RG 2025

LIENZ, AUT

Career Trajectory

Surface Split

HARD
CLAY
One main-draw match: Wimbledon 1R 2026 First WTA final and first top-30 win on hard Junior Roland-Garros title won on clay

Quick Facts

Birthplace

Lienz, Austria

Residence

Varese, Italy

Height

185 cm (6'1")

Plays

Right-handed

Backhand

One-handed

Best Slam

1R — RG & Wimbledon (2026)

The Breakthrough

In the week of 13 April 2026, Tagger jumped 20 ranking places — from No. 117 to No. 97 — to become the youngest player in the WTA top 100 and the first player born in 2008 to reach it. The surge came from her first WTA 500 quarterfinal, on home soil in Linz, where she beat Paula Badosa and then Liudmila Samsonova 6-2, 7-6(11) — her first win over a top-30 opponent, sealed in one of the longest tiebreaks of the 2026 season.

"So we set the goal and then we actually won it." — On targeting the junior Roland-Garros title · WTATENNIS.COM

The rise had been building for months. Ranked outside the top 700 in January 2025, she won the junior French Open in June, reached a tour-level final in Jiujiang on her WTA main-draw debut in the autumn, and added a WTA 125 final in Mumbai in February 2026. Working since her early teens with Francesca Schiavone — the 2010 Roland-Garros champion and a fellow one-handed-backhand player — she has climbed to a career-high No. 74 within thirteen months of her first ITF title.

In Her Own Words

"I just feel it's the most natural shot I have."

ON HER ONE-HANDED BACKHAND, ROME 2026 · TENNISMAJORS.COM

"If you had told me 12 months ago … I would not believe you."

ON HER RAPID RISE · WTATENNIS.COM

"I need to learn from it. That's the new level."

AFTER FACING MARIA SAKKARI IN ROME, MAY 2026 · TENNISMAJORS.COM

Playing Style

Signature one-handed backhand Powerful serve Strong forehand Clay-court pedigree Tall, rangy frame
Sources: Wikipedia (Lilli Tagger) · WTA Tour player profile · WTATennis.com, "Rankings Watch: Tagger's milestone, Potapova's rise boost Austrian tennis" · WTATennis.com, "Moves like Tagger: Meet the Austrian teen turning heads on tour" · TennisMajors.com, "'The most natural shot I have': Lilli Tagger explains the one-handed backhand" · AP via ABC News, "Lilli Tagger wins French Open girls title", June 2025.
Compiled from public match reporting and official tour data — no private or unpublished sources used.