Lilli Tagger Shows Tantalising Glimpse of the Future in US Open Loss

According to an old sporting adage, one is either winning or they're learning.

Across the course of Lilli Tagger's three-set loss to Amanda Anisimova in New York yesterday, there was much to learn about the young Austrian - and almost all of it was thoroughly impressive.

At a time in this sport when one-handed backhands are increasingly being viewed as a dying art, Tagger's own strikingly aesthetic one-hander continues to carry the torch for this most iconic of shots.

Having become somewhat synonymous with tennis, perhaps too much emphasis can sometimes be placed on the importance of elegance over efficacy. Luckily for Tagger, her trademark groundstroke carries both in abundance.

Tagger Holds Firm Against Anisimova's Power

It was fascinating to watch such a unique brand of play go up against one of the most powerful heavy-hitters in the women's game, when the 18-year-old Austrian took on last year's US Open runner-up on Grandstand yesterday.

Indeed, for a good while during that contest it looked as though the young pretender was simply being overawed by the weight of shot raining down on her from across the net. After falling an early break behind, Anisimova's dynamism came to the fore, reeling off eight of the next nine games to surge into a commanding 6-3, 2-0 lead.

Were it the case that Tagger's game had been built entirely around her backhand, and its ability or otherwise to pierce the defence of her opponents, this match would have come to a rapid conclusion from this point. Yet, what was most striking across this encounter was just how many layers the Austrian already has to her game.

From that deficit, Tagger exhibited tremendous mental fortitude to grit her way through two lengthy games and regain parity, one that she used as a platform to launch a successful assault on the remainder of the set, stealing into a 5-2 lead and eventually taking it 6-3.

The 6-1 scoreline in the decider misrepresents the narrative of that final set. Tagger and Anisimova went toe-to-toe in successive tight and competitive games, with the American's greater experience perhaps giving her the edge in most of those mini battles en route to eventual victory.

Lilli Tagger's Impressive Early Resume

It is worth taking pause for thought here. Tagger, still only 18 years old, was making just her third main-draw Grand Slam appearance at this year's US Open. Her previous two major campaigns came earlier this season, ending in first-round finishes in Paris and at Wimbledon.

"Everywhere I go this year, everything is new, so it's special for me and I just try to enjoy every moment that I can step on court," she told reporters earlier this week.

Despite being a true novice at this level, Tagger swept past the vastly more experienced Tamara Korpatsch in the first round at Flushing Meadows, before equalling Anisimova in most departments across that gripping and closely fought three-set contest one round later.

Having only made her WTA debut last year, a mere five months after winning the Girls' singles title at Roland-Garros, the teenage Austrian is already a WTA titlist, claiming the 250 crown in Prague earlier this summer. It was during this title run that Tagger earned one of her most impressive results to date, upending two-time major champion Barbora Krejcikova in the semi-finals, before sweeping past Daria Snigur in the showpiece.

In only seven months on the WTA Tour, she has already appeared in two finals - on her debut main-tour showing last November, Tagger finished runner-up at the 250 event in Jiangxi, taking full advantage of her entry as a wildcard.

As she nears the end of her first full season on tour, Tagger sits one place below her career-high ranking of No. 45 in the world.

Italian Links Lay Foundation For Exciting Future For Tagger

In a sport where a litany of precocious young talents frequently appear to break out across the season - especially on the women's side - it is all too easy to overhype promising early results.

Yet the rapid milestones in Tagger's still nascent career are difficult to ignore. A junior Grand Slam champion, a WTA titlist and the third-highest ranked teenager on the rankings ladder all make for an outstanding early resume.

But the true signs of a golden future lie in this young Austrian's temperament and maturity. Her equanimity in the heat of battle with Anisimova yesterday was striking, as was her ability to calmly problem solve her way out of a set-and-a-break deficit against one of the WTA's finest players.

Watching in the stands yesterday was Tagger's doubles partner in New York this week, Sara Errani. Indeed, there is a strong Italian thread running through the Austrian's career, as she is coached by former fellow one-handed backhander, Francesca Schiavone, as well as having honed much of her early craft through the Italian system.

With Italian tennis now providing the global blueprint for national success, such a move looks shrewd, and one that is already paying dividends.

As women's tennis finds itself at one its healthiest moments in recent history, with a cluster of explosive fresh talent already knocking at the door of an ironclad elite leading the sport, Tagger looks set to be an integral part of this compelling new generation to challenge for tennis' biggest prizes.

Her first foray into a Grand Slam second round may have ended in defeat, yet the nature of the loss - on top of the all the promising evidence she has displayed thus far - tells us that Lilli Tagger is set to be a defining name in the years to come.

And what we have seen already is only one tantalising glimpse of a hugely exciting future.

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