Anna Blinkova defeats 17-year-old Lilli Tagger to claim Jiangxi Open title, ending three-year trophy drought

Anna Blinkova has triumphed in the Jiangxi Open for her second WTA title. She overcame 17-year-old wildcard Lilli Tagger 6-3, 6-3 to seal victory for the first time since 2022.

It was an unseeded final, with Blinkova coming into the event as the world number 95, and Tagger way behind in 235. The pair will both move up the rankings with this final, but the Russian will take home the trophy in a remarkable week. Enroute to the concluding matchup, she defeated Chloe Paquet, sixth seed Anna Bondar, third seed Alycia Parks and Dominika Salkova to reach the final, all without dropping a set.

It has been quite the week for Tagger, who had previously won two consecutive events on the ITF Women's circuit before failing to qualify for the Ningbo Open. Allowed to compete as a wildcard, she has grabbed the opportunity by the horns, getting the better of Chenting Zhu, Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Tamara Korpatsch and the number two seed Viktorija Golubic after surviving three match points against the Swiss player.

Blinkova got off to the better start in the final, breaking the Austrian's serve before she fired back with one of her own, eventually taking her fifth opportunity. Another brace of breaks followed which left the tie all-square at 2-2. The game which followed had eight deuces in, with Blinkova squandering three chances for a fifth break on the spin. She would hold to love before having the chance to break to love. Tagger fought her way back in it but was inevitably broken. This time, she was not able to find a way back into it as Blinkova won the remaining two games in the set, clinching her second set point to take a commanding advantage.

The second set was much more routine, but it could have been different if Tagger took one of the three opportunities she had to break to make it 2-1 early on. The next four games just saw three points against the serve. This trend would be abolished after Blinkova clinically broke the serve to storm out into a 5-3 lead and would eventually get the job done as she served out to win the title in Jiujiang.

"I left home on September 8, I played so many tournaments and I lost in the first or second round, but I kept working hard every day, practising every day and believing I could still make a good result, even in the last tournament of the season. And I did it," Blinkova said after clinching the title.

She also had some positive words to say for her opponent: "Her backhand was rock solid, but at some points I felt she started missing with her forehand. So I played a bit more to her forehand in the important moments. I also put a lot of pressure with my return - I was just a bit more aggressive and solid at the same time. I think she's a really great player for her age. She really pushed my limits today, and I had to play my best tennis to beat her."