2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone has been coaching WTA prospect Lilli Tagger for several years.
Schiavone is the last woman to have won a Grand Slam using a one-handed backhand.
Tagger, 18, also uses a one-handed backhand.
What is the one tennis result you would like to change?
Plenty to pick from!
Appearing as a guest on the ‘Love All‘ podcast, Schiavone was asked if she believes anyone with a one-handed backhand can win a Grand Slam in the modern game.
Francesca Schiavone believes Lilli Tagger can win a Grand Slam
“Yes,” said Schiavone.
“Very soon? I don’t know…
“The time, I don’t know.
“But I can say that there is a girl that I’m very happy and lucky to coach, her name is Lilli Tagger.
“She is 18, she has great potential, she has a one-handed backhand.”
Schiavone then explained how her relationship with Tagger came to be.
“Two years and a half [I’ve been working with her],” she said.
“When she came here, I could see that she is a pure-breed horse like you say in English, she was easy-going, very disciplined, very clean shots.
“Then I spent some weeks with her and said, ‘Let’s see if she can handle some pressure, how to approach points.’
“So I took her and said, ‘Let’s go to play tournaments’, there are horses for practice and horses for racing!
“I understood that she was ready to be a race competitor.
“After one year, which she spent working with all of us, not just me, I understood that she was ready to handle the professional tour, so I started one-to-one [coaching].”
Schiavone has helped Tagger establish herself as one of the top prospects in women’s tennis.
The young Austrian won the French Open junior title in 2025 and reached her first WTA Tour final later that year, in Jiangxi.
But how well has she performed so far in 2026?
Lilli Tagger is making progress towards the WTA top 50
Tagger has enjoyed several positive results so far this year.
She won matches at Indian Wells and the Miami Open before reaching the quarter-finals in Linz, her home tournament.
Lilli Tagger’s 2026 results
- ASB Classic – Lost in Q2 to Yulia Starodubtseva
- Australian Open – Lost in Q3 to Lanlana Tararudee
- WTA 125K Mumbai – Lost in F to Mananchaya Sawangkaew
- Indian Wells – Lost in 2R to Maria Sakkari
- Miami Open – Lost in 2R to Ekaterina Alexandrova
- Linz Open – Lost in QF to Anastasia Potapova
- Open de Rouen – Lost in 1R to Oleksandra Oliynykova
Those results have moved Tagger into the world’s top 100, as she now sits 93rd in the ‘Live Rankings’.
Live WTA Rankings
| Rank | Name | Age | Country | Points |
| 89 | Renata Zarazua | 28 | Mexico | 835 |
| 90 | Nikola Bartunkova | 20 | Czechia | 831 |
| 91 | Daria Snigur | 24 | Ukraine | 828 |
| 92 | Taylor Townsend | 30 | USA | 824 |
| 93 | Lilli Tagger | 18 | Austria | 809 |
| 94 | Hanne Vandewinkel | 21 | Belgium | 804 |
| 95 | Anhelina Kalinina | 29 | Ukraine | 803 |
| 96 | Tamara Korpatsch | 30 | Germany | 800 |
| 97 | Veronika Erjavec | 36 | Slovenia | 799 |
| 98 | Ella Seidel | 21 | Germany | 789 |
More importantly, Tagger is up to 54th in the ‘Live WTA Race’.
That means the teenager is on course to finish the 2026 season ranked just outside the top 50.
Live WTA Race
| Rank | Name | Age | Country | Points |
| 50 | Karolina Pliskova | 34 | Czechia | 394 |
| 51 | Camila Osorio | 24 | Colombia | 388 |
| 52 | Anastasia Zakharova | 24 | Russia | 387 |
| 53 | Anna Blinkova | 27 | Russia | 385 |
| 54 | Lilli Tagger | 18 | Austria | 384 |
| 55 | Katerina Siniakova | 29 | Czechia | 383 |
| 56 | Shuai Zhang | 37 | China | 380 |
| 57 | Dayana Yastremska | 25 | Ukraine | 379 |
| 58 | Emma Raducanu | 23 | Great Britain | 373 |
| 59 | Tereza Valentova | 19 | Czechia | 368 |
The Austrian will return to action at the upcoming Saint Malo Challenger event in France.
Then, she will head over to Rome for the Italian Open qualifying tournament.
