Tagger’s daring comeback sets up Jiujiang showdown
Seventeen-year-old wildcard Lilli Tagger turns triple match point into a semifinal triumph in her WTA debut, earning a final berth against the multilingual Anna Blinkova at the Jiangxi Open.
On the sun-baked hard courts of Jiujiang, where the ball bites low and quick, 17-year-old Austrian Lilli Tagger announced her arrival in the WTA with a semifinal stunner. The wild card, reigning Roland Garros junior champion, outlasted defending champion Viktorija Golubic 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 in a 2-hour, 12-minute duel of single-handed backhands. Trailing 5-2 in the third set and staring down triple match point at 5-4, Tagger fired off 13 consecutive points, her inside-out backhands carving through the tension like precision strikes.
Youthful fire meets veteran guile
Tagger seized the opening set with aggressive crosscourt forehands and a one–two serve pattern that overwhelmed Golubic early, breaking twice for a 6-1 lead. The Swiss No. 2 seed, 33 and drawing on her quarterfinal confidence, countered in the second by mixing underspin drop shots with net rushes, breaking to 2-0 and holding through gritty deuce games on the faster surface. Tagger rallied from that deficit, breaking back to lead 4-3 with deeper returns that tested Golubic’s footwork, yet the veteran’s tactical variety—skidding slices disrupting rhythm—reclaimed the set and pushed the decider to 5-2.
The hardcourt’s moderate pace amplified Golubic’s experience, allowing her down-the-line passes to punish overhit attempts, while Tagger’s flatter groundstrokes gained extra zip. As fatigue crept in, the teenager held firm in extended baseline exchanges, chipping away with patient crosscourt rallies before her explosive surge. This marked Tagger’s second Top 100 win of the week, following her upset of Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the second round, and propelled her from No. 773 at the start of 2025 to No. 235 after three ITF titles.
“I’m still shaking!” Tagger said afterwards. “If you asked me a question about playing the final earlier this week I would say no, it’s too early. I couldn’t think about it.”
Historical echoes in debut glory
Tagger becomes the first 2008-born player to reach a WTA final, the youngest of 2025, and will crack the Top 200 next week. Her feat echoes rare under-18 debuts: the first to advance to a final since Noma Noha Akugue’s 2023 Hamburg runner-up finish, and just the third in two decades alongside Olga Danilovic’s 2018 Moscow River Cup title and Donna Vekic’s 2012 Tashkent run. Bidding for a debut victory like Maria Timofeeva’s 2023 Budapest triumph, she eyes Austria’s first WTA crown since Yvonne Meusburger’s 2013 Bad Gastein success.
The crowd’s murmurs built to roars as Tagger’s resilience shone, her backhand bursts exploiting gaps in Golubic’s coverage during that 13-point run. For live developments, follow Jiujiang: Scores | Draws | Order of play.
Blinkova’s cultural bridge builds momentum
Awaiting in the final is 27-year-old Anna Blinkova, who dispatched Czech semifinalist Dominika Salkova 6-4, 6-4 for her third career final and first since 2023 Strasbourg. The Russian controlled with steady topspin crosscourts and backhand slices that skidded low, breaking twice per set on the hard courts while facing no breakpoints herself. Her composed returns neutralized Salkova’s power, varying depth to dictate tempo in a match that highlighted her tactical maturity against youthful aggression.
Blinkova has captivated Jiujiang’s fans with fluent Chinese in on-court interviews, far beyond simple greetings, forging a connection that eases the tour’s isolation. This polyglot prowess stems from years of effort: when wtatennis.com interviewed Blinkova in 2018, as she entered the Top 100, she spoke Russian, English, French, and Slovakian, already using apps to learn Mandarin for chats with Chinese players. That dedication yielded a February doubles title with Yuan Yue in Austin, and two months ago, she told Bounces of her dream to converse locally and perhaps interview in Chinese—a vision now alive amid the cheers.
“It was a tough match today,” Blinkova said in Chinese after defeating Salkova. “My opponent played well. I have been brave and showing willpower. Thank you for cheering for me. I like playing in China, I feel good here in China and I’m so grateful to my Chinese fans.”
Chasing a second title after her 2022 Cluj-Napoca win, Blinkova’s variety—inside-in forehands blending with underspin—could counter Tagger’s power on these courts, where crowd energy tilts toward the connector. The final promises a clash of raw emergence and seasoned poise, with the surface’s speed testing both in rallies that stretch nerves and showcase adaptation under the lights.
