Alexandra Eala, Mirra Andreeva and Maya Joint make up part of the extremely talented group of young stars on the WTA Tour.
All three players have achieved significant milestones in 2025: Eala won her first WTA title at the Guadalajara Open, Joint won her first WTA Tour title in Nottingham, and Andreeva has stunned the Tour by winning two WTA 1000 titles and rising to world number five.
Young Czech star Linda Noskova has also impressed recently, reaching her first WTA 1000 final at the China Open.
There is another young star, ranked outside the top 200, who could be set to challenge those in the top 50 very soon.
Lilli Tagger compared to Carlos Alcaraz and Ashleigh Barty
Austrian star Lilli Tagger, 17, is perhaps the most promising young female player yet to break through at the top level of the WTA Tour.
Currently ranked 222nd in the world, Tagger has already achieved much in her young career, including a title at the 2025 French Open.
The 17-year-old is coached by 2010 French Open Women’s Singles champion Francesca Schiavone.
Speaking on The Grind podcast, world number 226 doubles player Alexandra Osborne discussed Tagger and her bright future.
She said: “From an ITF perspective Roddy, there is one girl, an Austrian 17-year-old, Lilli Tagger. She’s just making headlines this year.
“We may have spoken about her when Roland Garros was happening, she was the 2025 French Open Girls Singles champion and was an unseeded player in the draw, winning two and love [in the final], which is a crazy result from a junior’s perspective.
“She’s now gone on since then to win her third title of the year as a 17-year-old, a second straight in a row in Serbia. She’s the youngest Austrian player to win three or more ITF world tennis tour singles titles since the records even began in the 1990s, in 1994.
“She’s reached four consecutive semi-finals at a WTA 75 level, making the final on three of those occasions, and winning the title twice in consecutive weeks. Huge from a 17-year-old.
“I mean, clearly a major up-and-coming player right now.
“She has actually beaten our friend, Sada Nahimana, in the semi-final of her title run in Romania recently as well, and she defeated Lois Boisson, who you would know and who we’ve spoken about this year, made the semi-final at the French Open. She defeated her in qualifying of a [WTA] 35 in March this year.
“The biggest headline for me is that she’s jumped 300 spots in the rankings, only since the end of July, which is insane, to think that a 17-year-old has jumped 300 spots in the rankings from 519 to 219 in the world.
“She’s clearly doing some things right. She has the right coach behind her. She has a one-handed backhand. She’s getting coached by Francesca Schiavone, who a lot of you would know, won Roland Garros back in the day. I remember her growing up, just a legend of the game, and Lilli has a one-handed backhand.”
Co-host Roddy Reynolds continued the discussion, comparing young Tagger and her coach to Carlos Alcaraz and Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Alcaraz is the world number one and a six-time major winner, while Barty – now retired – won three Grand Slam singles titles during her career.
“Massive Alcaraz, Juan Carlos Ferrero energy, 100 per cent,” Reynolds said.
“There’s this story of… Juan Carlos Ferrero got offered to coach, I can’t remember who it was at the time, but let’s say it was a top 50 player, a top 20 player, and he turns around and goes ‘no, I’m good, I’ve got this kid.’
“He gets offered to coach a [inaudible] player, and Juan Carlos Ferrero goes ‘no, I’ve got this kid, he’s 16, he’s a freak. We’re going to be fine.’
“And then, now as time goes on, he’s world number one and he’s got like six Slams. He’s already at the Stefan Edberg, Mats Wilander level of Slam winning at the tender age of 23 and this just reminds me of that.
“Obviously, Tagger being so young and playing with the one-hander, that’s going to come with challenges as she comes through the ranks, because these girls hit such a heavy ball and on clay where she’s had her success, like you were saying at Roland Garros and winning these tournaments in Romania and Serbia and whatnot, having time behind the ball with the one-hander, like her coach did, that’s probably going to be really helpful.
“How she goes when she steps up under bigger name players on hard courts, when they will just pepper that backhand with flat, hard balls, that’s one whole thing.
“I have watched a little bit of her. Her backhand is unreal and she’s got a tonne of versatility, but I was watching on clay so disclaimer, I’m getting the absolute best version of her there.
“She reminds me a little bit with her versatility like Ash Barty. Like when Ash won that Australian Open, she basically hit like three backhands coming over the top of it. Everything was a slice, she just cut through the draw, and that’s something you don’t see on the women’s tour a whole lot.
“I would bet to guess that your experience on the women’s tour at the ITF level, you see it even less, that versatility and that ability… that court craft to bring people forward with the slice, keep them on their toes back with the slic,e and then obviously being able to rip over the top of the ball as well.
“Obviously, throwing Barty’s name next to a girl who’s won a French Open Girls Singles is probably not the most groundbreaking take, but super cool how she’s playing.
“I love the way she plays, and her forehand looks a bit heavy on the western side on the forehand grip, so it’s no surprise being an Austrian that she looks at home on the dirt. But yeah, huge things to come, I think.”
Lilli Tagger has won three ITF titles in 2025
Tagger has certainly enjoyed a breakout year during 2025.
The Austrian has won three ITF titles alongside her major silverware at the French Open.
| Tournament | Opponent in Final | Score |
| ITF Terrassa, Spain | Lois Boisson | 7-6, 6-3 |
| Ladies Open Amstetten, Austria | Sinja Kraus | 2-6, 4-6 |
| ITF Bucharest, Romania | Lina Gjorcheska | 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 |
| ITF Kuršumlijska Banja, Serbia | Rada Zolotareva | 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 |
She claimed her first ITF title of the year in March, defeating future French Open semi-finalist Lois Boisson in straight sets.
A loss in the final of the Ladies Open Amstetten followed in August. However, she bounced back to claim two ITF titles in September, in Romania and Serbia.
Tagger is certainly a player to watch for the future, and one who could be competing in major WTA Tour events very soon.
