Successful breakthrough

Automatically saved draft

Lilli Tagger is already the sixth best Austrian in the WTA rankings.(Bild: zVg)

Lilli Tagger will face the world number 159 in the sixteenth round of the WTA 125 tournament in Limoges on Monday. After that, she will return home to Lienz for the holidays and then head straight to Australia.

Lilli Tagger from Lienz got off to a real flying start in the world of junior tennis this year. In March, she won her first ITF tournament at junior level in England - followed by two more victories in Italy. After the junior Grand Slams in Wimbledon and at the US Open, Lilli picked up more points for the WTA rankings at ITF events. The 16-year-old is now number 925 in the world, making her the sixth-best Austrian.

Tagger injured her abdominal muscles while serving.(Bild: zVg)

And she will receive a special Christmas present on Monday. She will make her debut on the WTA Tour in Limoges (Fr), where she will face world number 159 Victoria Kasintseva (And) in the round of 16 of the 125-player event. "She got a wild card," says her mother Sabine. "Even if it was just a trip for one match - it's important for Lilli to get to know this world early enough and not be in awe of the stars."

Injury set Lilli back a little
After reaching the quarter-finals at the ITF tournament in Santa Margarita di Pula (Italy) in October, Lilli suffered from an abdominal muscle injury and even had to cancel a top-class junior event in Mexico. She also had to turn down an invitation from the Austrian federation to the women's FED Cup in the USA.

"She wasn't allowed to serve for three weeks. Fortunately, after three ultrasound examinations, she was given the green light again," says Sabine Tagger, who will be able to spoil her daughter at home in Lienz over the Christmas holidays. On December 26, she will return to the academy in Milan. The flight to the Junior Australian Open is scheduled for January 1st.