Got a second chance at the last moment – and took advantage of it coldly: That’s how Eva Lys’ Australian Open so far can be summed up. The German tennis hopeful, who actually failed in the last round of qualifying for the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, but then moved up as a lucky loser, surprisingly moved into the 3rd round on Thursday morning.
The 23-year-old from Hamburg defeated Varvara Gracheva (number 69 in the world rankings) from France in a close tennis match 6:2, 3:6, 6:4. After almost two hours, Lys (number 128 in the world rankings) converted her first match point on Gracheva’s serve, thus completing her best performance at a Grand Slam to date. The right-hander only reached the second round at the US Open 2023.
Lys said after her success at “Eurosport” that she was just “happy without a word.” “I’m a very big head person – I got through it a bit in the second set, but I was able to fight back really well in the third.”
Lys was also inspired by the loud cheers from the fans on the next pitch: “When you experience it for the first time, you have no words for it. I enjoyed every second.”
At times, the DJ Ötzi classic “Hey Baby” was even played in a modified form in the stands: “Hey Eva, I want to know, if you be my girl,” the fans cheered on the DTB player. Lys was impressed: “When people sing about you in the chorus, that’s a total bonus.”
Two German tennis players in the 3rd round
The key to the German victory was, above all, enormous nerve strength at the crucial points. While Lys was able to fend off five of her opponent’s eight break points, she used five of her six chances to steal the service from Gracheva.
On Saturday, the 2021 German champion will face Jaqueline Cristian (82nd) from Romania, who defeated the Italian Lucia Bronzetti (76th) in two sets. At least another success doesn’t seem completely unreasonable.
Lys had a crazy day on Monday. About ten minutes before her first round match, she found out that she was even allowed to take part in the tournament as a lucky loser. She then played freely and clearly beat local hero Kimberly Birrell (101st) in two sets.
In addition to Lys, Laura Siegemund is also in the 3rd round from a German perspective.