Tagger/Potapova create a top atmosphere, but are narrowly defeated

It was a real thriller! Lilli Tagger and Anastasia Potapova only narrowly missed out on Austria's first victory at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz 2026. The red-white-red duo were already 3:6 and 2:5 down against Ulrikke Eikeri (Norway) and Quinn Gleason (USA), fended off two match points and had every chance of reaching the quarter-finals in the match tie-break. In the end, Tagger/Potapova were unable to capitalise on four match points, even with the enthusiastic support of the Linz tennis fans, and lost 3:6, 7:6 and 10:12. „It was really bitter that it wasn't enough. But it was also really great fun,“ said Tagger after her very first match on the centre court at the Design Center.

On Tuesday, Lilli Tagger will celebrate her singles debut at the Upper Austrian women's tennis classic. Three local heroes will be in action on the „Day of the Austrians“ on Tuesday. Sinja Kraus will kick things off at 1.45 pm against Romanian Sorana Cirstea. Not before 4pm (live on ORF1), Lilli Tager will make her big appearance on Centre Court and will face former world number two Paula Badosa in a duel between the wildcard players. Austria's number one Julia Grabher will not face Alexandra Eala from the Philippines before 6pm.

Sloane Stephens challenges Mirra Andreeva
Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open winner, celebrated her first win of the clay court season in the „Night Session“ on Monday evening. The 33-year-old needed some time to adjust to Tatjana Maria's unorthodox game, but won 1:6, 7:6 and 6:4 after 2:42 hours. She will now face top seed Mirra Andreeva, who is ranked tenth in the world. „It will be a completely different match than against Tatjana, a completely different challenge. I'm very happy to be here and I'm really looking forward to the match,“ said the US-American.

Elena-Gabriela Ruse, who beat Great Britain's Katie Boulter twice in a tie-break, is also through to the last 16.

Donna Vekic & Co buy tickets for the main draw
The last four „tickets“ for the main draw of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz were played out at the Design Centre on Easter Monday. In the end, Germany's Tamara Korpatsch, top seed Katie Volynets (USA), Aliaksandra Sasnovich and the 2024 Linz semi-finalist Donna Vekic from Croatia fought their way through the qualifiers.

After a playing time of 2:48 hours, the 29-year-old Vekic converted her first match point against Iryna Shymanovich in the qualifying final. Today, Tuesday, she will face Katie Volynets in the first round of the main draw in a duel between two qualifiers (not before 3.30 pm). Tamara Korpatsch and Aliaksandra Sasnovich will face real Linz experts in their first round matches. Korpatsch, from Hamburg, will play former Linz finalist Jaqueline Cristian, while Sasnovich will take on Karolina Pliskova, Linz winner in 2014.