“Lucky Loser” is convincing
German tennis player makes history
01/18/2025 – 8:01 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
The Grand Slam tournament is going like a fairytale for Eva Lys. A seemingly overwhelming opponent now awaits in the round of 16.
Eva Lys added a historic chapter to her tennis fairytale at the Australian Open. The 23-year-old won in the third round against the Romanian Jaqueline Cristian 4:6, 6:3, 6:3 and became the first female “lucky loser” to reach the round of 16 of the Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne.
“Oh, that’s really cool!” said Lys when asked about it in the largest interview room at the media center in Melbourne Park: “It definitely doesn’t feel real.” The Hamburg resident said she was experiencing a “crazy story” on the Yarra River: “Those days totally changed my life.”
The world ranking 128. had actually failed in the qualification and only officially moved into the main draw 15 minutes before her first match. There she is attracting a lot of attention with her new nickname “Lucky Lys” with three victories.
In the round of the best 16, Lys can compete with top star Iga Świątek on Monday. The Polish world number two gave the British Emma Raducanu no chance in the duel between two Grand Slam tournament winners with 6:1, 6:0. “For me there is no hotter match. That’s the reason why I play tennis. I want to compete with the best in the world,” said Lys at Eurosport.
“I’m looking forward to a great duel,” Lys said before the game against Cristian: “I know I have the level. But it’s the head that turns on at some point and then I can no longer play freely.”
That initially seemed to be the problem against Cristian. Lys initially didn’t appear as carefree as she had in her two previous matches and was quickly behind 1:4. Although she improved, she was only able to take advantage of one of six break chances and therefore lost the first set.
In the second round she did better and took the first two service games from her opponent. She may also have remembered the previous three duels with the Romanian, all of which Lys had won after being 1-0 down. She now achieved this feat of strength in the fourth meeting. After 2:25 hours, the Kiev native converted her second match point.