At the Australian Open she delighted as “Lucky Lys”. At the start of the French Open, the Hamburg native of Eva Lys against Peyton Stearn’s hopes for a similarly successful story.
Lys, currently No. 59 in the world, left the American Stearns, at least No. 33, at 6: 0, 6: 3 in the first round, no real chance and, above all, showed remarkable calm and serenity in the few narrow phases. The 23-year-old, who had slipped into the main field at the Australian Open in January and only left Polen’s top star IGA Swiatek in the round of 16, meets the 18-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko in her second match.
“I love playing in a big stadium. I love playing in front of an audience where I know that I can definitely deliver a good show with my tennis“, Lys had said on Deutschlandfunk. The 23-year-old was at least little impressed and very focused on what her opponent, at least most recently Rome semi-finalist, did not even succeed.
Again and again the Lys fist
Lys ‘first break to 2-0 illustrated Stearn’s problems with the first service, and the American made some slight mistakes and had great difficulties with Lys’ deep baseline balls. The Hamburger kept clenching her fist, visibly happy with her game. At Stearns, dissatisfaction changed to frustration when she could not use several break balls at 0: 4.
Lys kept the ball in the game with her variables, clever base line blows – the mistakes then often made Stearns, a total of 17 in the first set. Almost consequently, Lys has been the first German since Steffi Grafs 6: 0, 6: 0 in the 1988 final, which gains a sentence at the French Open 6-0 – and that is quite surprising in this clarity.
Lys also put under pressure
Stearn’s petrified expression only gave way in the second round when she won her first game in this game to 1: 2. But Lys also seemed calmly under pressure, for example when she freed herself out of the situation with 2: 2, her own serve and several break balls and brought home. Among other things, with a great stop from Stearns, which she celebrated with a particularly expressive fist.
Even when Lys left match balls several times, she only smiled. After 1:18 hours, her fourth match ball converted, brought the set 6: 3 home and then let the spectators celebrate. Incidentally, as “Lucky Lys” she will not appear again in Roland Garros. Because for the first time in her career she had to Grand Slam Not due to the mills of qualification, the ranking was qualified for the French Open.