Curse Broken

Tagger Claims First ÖTV Singles Title in Linz Since 2013!

Lilli Tagger(Bild: GEPA)

Lilli Tagger won her Linz debut at the WTA 500 tournament during the Upper Austria Ladies!

The 18-year-old from East Tyrol defeated former world No. 2 Paula Badosa of Spain 6-4, 7-6(5) in 2 hours and 7 minutes at the sold-out Design Center, which was packed with 2,500 fans. She ended the “Austrian curse” in Linz and secured the first Austrian singles victory since 2013. The young tennis star will face third-seeded Russian Lyudmila Samsonova on Thursday.

“Unbelievable, I came in as the underdog!”
Tagger was overwhelmed in her on-court interview with Barbara Schett-Eagle. “Unbelievable—I came onto the court as the underdog, but I’ve been looking forward to this match so much ever since the draw, to play in front of you all. Playing at home is always incredible,” Tagger said, thanking the crowd.

When asked how she managed to get herself so mentally prepared for victory, Tagger replied casually: “You already have a 50 percent chance of winning the match just by being on the court, right?” she said, drawing laughter, before adding seriously: “It means a lot to me to win my first clay-court match on the WTA Tour in front of you all, against such a great player. You don’t get that chance every day. I really wanted to come out there and win.”

Tagger shows her potential
In front of her coach Francesca Schiavone and enthusiastic fans, Lilli Tagger showed that the hype surrounding her is well-founded. The teenager with great potential didn’t let a 1-3 deficit in the first set rattle her and even managed the decisive break at 5-4 in the first set. She fended off a break point and then converted the second set point to win 6-4.

Lilli Tagger(Bild: APA/BARBARA GINDL)

Mayr-Achleitner finally replaced
Tagger then pulled ahead 4-0, but Badosa didn’t give up and closed the gap to 3-4. Then Tagger took a 5-3 lead and held a 30-0 advantage on the current No. 102’s serve, but Badosa rallied and tied the score at 5-5. Tagger showed nerves of steel, securing the break to make it 6-5, but then allowed Badosa to tie the set at 6-6 with two points left to win. In a nail-biting tiebreak, Tagger came out on top.

Victory for Tagger one of the most important so far
Tagger initially struggled to put this success into perspective: “It’s a very important match that I won.” Her home debut on clay on the tour was close to her heart. “And then right away a 500-level tournament in the main draw against such a good player—it ranks very high.” Tagger continued to climb the live rankings and is now ranked 106th. Another victory on Thursday would secure her a spot in the main draw at the French Open, which would mean a lot to her. “Of course, we’ve had this goal for quite some time now—that I’ll be in the main draw in Paris.”

No Austrian woman had managed to win even a single round in Linz since Patricia Mayr-Achleitner 13 years ago (who was eliminated in the quarterfinals at the time). Tagger broke the curse and also showed why she had recently won one round each after receiving wildcards in Indian Wells and Miami.

Kraus and Grabher Eliminated in Round 1
Sinja Kraus and Julia Grabher, however, were eliminated in Round1. Kraus, the 23-year-old from Vienna, lost to fifth-seeded Romanian Sorana Cirstea 3-6, 3-6 after 87 minutes. In the evening match, Grabher also lost to the higher-ranked Filipina Alexandra Eala. The 29-year-old from Vorarlberg was defeated 4-6, 3-6 after 102 minutes. It was her sixth first-round exit in Linz. More would have been possible for Grabher, but good spells were followed by too many unforced errors. “Extremely disappointing. I don’t think I ever found my rhythm; that’s a real shame, especially here in Austria,” Grabher told ORF. “I was still in it, but overall I just made too many mistakes.”