Meet the rising Austrian teen guided by a French Open champion

(Getty/Ian MacNicol)

Tennis is always on the lookout for the next big thing, the next prodigy. This is especially so at the beginning of a new season. In 2026, things are no different. We are fortunate in Australia to have the majority of early-season events on our doorstep, meaning we can keep a close eye on who might be ready to take that rankings leap.

One player already making some waves on the WTA tour is 17-year-old Austrian Lilli Tagger. After watching one practice session earlier in the week, I'm happy to announce that those waves are about to get a lot bigger over the next 12-18 months.

Tagger is currently ranked No.154, just a single place below her career-high. This time last year, her ranking was No.770. That's an extraordinary jump for a player who could still be plying her trade on the junior tour.

Tagger has been working with Francesca Schiavone at the Italian's tennis academy since October 2023, and was seen working closely with her during last season's French Open, where Tagger won the Junior title without dropping a single set. Tagger also reached the quarter-finals of the Junior Australian Open (losing to Emerson Jones) and the US Open.

Perhaps it's no surprise that Schiavone and Tagger have combined so well. Tagger has something that Schiavone had, but is barely sighted in the women's game these days… a stunningly graceful single-handed backhand.

She was asked about the decision to go with the single hand after her French Open win.

"I think it was the right call (smiling). I mean, I don't remember the moment so good because I was 11 years, I think, 12," said Tagger. "We went to the tournament, and I told him in the crowd, If I win the tournament, I want to play with the one-hand backhand.

"It was a tournament in Austria under-12, close to Vienna, and of course, when I won that tournament, I was just super happy to change my backhand."

Watching it in close quarters at Melbourne Park this week, confirmed that it's an element the sport can't afford to lose. Is there a more attractive shot in tennis? At approximately 6 feet tall, Tagger has long levers, which rip the ball fast, making her backhand all the more dangerous if she gets a play on it.

But it's her rise on the WTA tour in a short space of time that has seen her turn heads and get tongues wagging.

In 2025, her first year playing ITF and WTA events, Tagger appeared like she'd been established on the tour for years.

In March, at a W35 event in Spain, Tagger won her first ITF event, defeating Hannah Klugman of the UK in the semi-finals (who she would go on to beat at the French Open junior final just weeks later). But it was who she beat in the final that would, in hindsight, get people sitting up - Loïs Boisson of France.

Just weeks later, Boisson would go on an amazing run at the French Open, where she made the semi-finals of the women's event, making Tagger's win all the more significant.

From there, Tagger would reach a semi-final of a W35 event in Italy, the final of a W75 event in Austria, defeating two top 200 players, and the semis of a W75 in Austria.

This was early September, and Tagger had carved her ranking down to a very respectable 393. But the best was yet to come.

A week later, Tagger had the biggest win of her career, taking out the W75 in Bucharest, before backing up a week later in Serbia, with another W75 title. She had won 17 of 19 matches in the space of a month.

In late October, Tagger received a wildcard to play in her first WTA 250 event, and she took full advantage of the opportunity. Recording her first win over a top 100 player, Elisabetta Cocciaretto, she would then go on to beat Viktorija Golubic in the semi-finals, before going down to Anna Blinkova in the final.

That result propelled her to No.154, well and truly in the Australian Open qualifying draw, which is where we find her this week.

If you're wondering where she gets the inspiration on the tennis court, it's fair to say she's taking notice of the right people.

"In tennis, in the men's part, I love Jannik. I really love him, how he is mentally on the court and also his style of the game," she shared.

"The girls - Aryna Sabalenka. She's different from the other ones. She has a different attitude."

Tagger knows that the attention is coming. In fact, she was well aware of it after her French Open triumph.

"After winning Roland-Garros, I didn't change a lot, but other people, also the players, now they watch me – it's different," Tagger said at Wimbledon.

"Maybe before, they didn't really care about me. Now they come to watch me, try to understand what I am doing and maybe are happy when I lose sometimes. That is something which has changed since Paris."

Things are definitely going to change a lot more for Tagger in the coming years, regardless of what happens this week.

In her first round qualifying match, Tagger got through over China's Xinyu Gao 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

She will face Elena Pridankina later today for a place in the final round of qualifying.