Elise Mertens today captured both singles and doubles champion’s trophies at the Samsung Open in Lugano, Switzerland, so I feel it’s a perfect moment to feature the Belgian in my Little Tennis Stars series.
Owing to her Hobart title defense in January and the Australian Open semifinals, the 22-year-old Mertens is enjoying a career-high ranking of No.20. Today’s Lugano triumph, her third WTA career title and first on clay, is about to push her even further, to No.17.
You know I like to share childhood pics of tennis players, so here’s little Elise with her older sister Lauren, who is an airline pilot with KLM!