ITF World Tennis Tour Player of the Month: Lilli Tagger
Lilli Tagger has been named ITF World Tennis Tour Women's Player of the Month for September after securing back-to-back W75 titles.
The 17-year-old Austrian, who won Junior Roland Garros this year, has quickly made an electric impact on the World Tennis Tour.
"Thanks a lot to the ITF for electing me as Player of the Month," said Tagger.
"September was indeed a great month for me and I would like to thank my team for the support and dedication. We'll keep working hard and hopefully can celebrate more wins as the season continues."
It was by far and away a career-best month for Tagger, who won her first professional title at W35 Terrassa in March.
She kicked off September with a solid run to the semi-finals at W75 Vienna, where she was defeated by compatriot Sinja Kraus.
In the following week, Tagger headed to W75 Bucharest - where she would go on to have the the most significant triumph of her professional career.
She battled through a number of tough three-setters to claim her biggest title yet - but she was not done here.
Immediately after her Bucharest triumph, Tagger carried her momentum into W75 Kursumlijska Banja.
After breezing though her first two rounds, she had to fight her way through her remaining three matches - which she did in style to secure a second straight W75 title.
This made her the youngest Austrian player to win 3 or more ITF World Tennis Tour women’s singles titles and the first Austrian player to win multiple ITF World Tennis Tour women’s singles titles at W75/$60,000-level or higher as a teenager.
Tagger is making a name for herself not only due to her results but also her brand of tennis - which is punctuated with an excellent one-handed backhand.
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The rising star currently finds herself at a career-high ranking of world No. 219 - and if her sensational September is anything to go by, then we will no doubt see her continue to rise up the ranks.
For the latest results on the ITF World Tennis Tour, click here.