On Sunday, Tamara Korpatsch delighted the home crowd by defeating Anna Bondar in straight sets to claim the MSC Hamburg Ladies Open title, becoming the first German champion at the event in 34 years. Meanwhile, at the Livesport Prague Open, 18-year-old Austrian Lilli Tagger captured her maiden WTA title and became the first player born in 2008 to triumph on the WTA Tour.
After victories over Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva (via retirement), Julia Stusek, No. 2 seed Anhelina Kalinina and Mayar Sherif (via retirement), Korpatsch capped her run by defeating Bondar 6-3 6-3 to become the first German champion at Am Rothenbaum since Steffi Graf’s historic six-title streak from 1987 to 1992.
After an 18-year absence from the WTA calendar, the Hamburg clay-court tournament returned in 2021 and finally crowned a homegrown champion following a 34-year wait. To make the victory even more special, Korpatsch is not only German — she was born in Hamburg as well.
The MSC Hamburg Ladies Open marks the German’s second career WTA title, following her triumph at the 2023 Cluj-Napoca Open on hard court, where she defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the final. With the victory, Korpatsch will surge past her previous career-high position in the PIF WTA Rankings on Monday, breaking into the Top 50 for the first time at age 31. Her previous best ranking was No. 71, achieved in October 2023.
Making her tournament debut at the Livesport Prague Open, Lilli Tagger completed a dream run by defeating Gao Xinyu, Mai Hontama, No. 3 seed Sara Bejlek and No. 2 seed Barbora Krejcikova before rallying from a 5-2 deficit in the opening set to defeat eighth seed Daria Snigur in the final, 7-6(3) 6-2.
The youngest player currently ranked inside the Top 100 on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, Tagger has enjoyed a remarkable rise over the past year. This time last season, she was ranked No. 513, but after her amazing title run, she is projected to break into the Top 50 for the first time when the WTA Rankings are updated on Monday.
