Eva Lys is facing perhaps her biggest challenge yet. In the relegation playoffs of the Billie Jean King Cup, the German number one is fighting with the DTB women to stay in the league.
Eva Lys is facing her last big task in the current tennis season. The Hamburger is the hope of the DTB squad, which will fight to stay in the Billie Jean King Cup next weekend (November 14th to 16th).
The fact that it even got to this point is due to the defeats in the qualifiers in April, when Lys was only able to watch the fight for the final round against Great Britain and the Netherlands due to illness.
Lys with a central role in the Billie Jean King Cup playoffs
Instead of the final tournament, there is now a risk of relegation from the world group, which would also bury the chances of taking part in the final next year. In order to prevent this, we need to win Group F, which includes Germany, Belgium and Turkey.
For Lys, who will play a central role at the home game in Ismaning, it will be another, if not her biggest, test of maturity to date.
Siegemund and Maria are missing injured
As by far the best-placed German in the WTA rankings, hopes rest primarily on her. This is also due to the short-term absences of the other two top 50 players Tatjana Maria and Laura Siegemund.
However, Lys takes the new situation calmly: “Of course, Laura Siegemund and Tatjana Maria add a lot of experience, from whom I was able to learn a lot, but I think we have found our happy medium in the team and we all feel comfortable. Everyone has just as much to say.”
The German “rising star” is not lacking in self-confidence given the course of the season.
Matthias Cammann, Sportschau, November 13th, 2025 5:05 p.m
Jump into the top 40 in the WTA rankings
After Lys finished last season at number 130 in the world rankings, she made a big jump into the top 40 this year.
The German attracted attention at the beginning of the year by reaching the round of 16 as a lucky loser at the Australian Open, which earned her the nickname “Lucky Lys”.
At the end of September, another big highlight was achieved with the quarterfinals of the 1000 event in Beijing – including the first victory against a top 10 player in a duel with Elena Rybakina, who recently won the WTA finals.
In both tournaments she was defeated by players from the absolute world’s best, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff.
Lys is leading the way on and off the pitch
Lys presented herself more consistently this year than in previous seasons, which is due not only to increased self-confidence but also to developments in her game. She has further improved her return game and was also able to make progress with her weak point, the serve, at least on the first serve.
The DTB player was rewarded for her achievements not only with numerous world ranking points, but also with the title of German number one at the end of the year.
The 23-year-old isn’t just leading the way for the German team on the court. Lys is already a flagship of German women’s tennis, which also generates a lot of international attention.
She always stays close to fans on social media and shares their life on and off the court. This is obviously well received by over 262,000 followers.
Lys: “That’s why we have to keep being loud”
The Ukrainian-born athlete also uses her reach to draw attention to problems.
She regularly makes public the hate messages she receives on social media, ranging from insults to death threats.
“Every player, woman or man, gets messages like this. You always have to be on your guard. I haven’t had any nice interactions in the last few months. That’s why we have to keep being loud.”Lys also shows leadership qualities on this unpleasant topic and tries to actively combat the problem through discussions with the WTA.
Generational change in German women’s tennis
But even if Lys currently seems to have taken over the main role in the German team on and off the court, she is just one player who represents the slowly changing changing of the guard in German women’s tennis.
At the age of 37 and 38 respectively, Maria and Siegemund are still bravely holding up the German flag, but there was a larger gap behind it that the generation around Lys now wants to fill.
For the Billie Jean King Cup, 26-year-old Jule Niemeier is joined by 19-year-old Tessa Brockmann, who also represents the young talents who are currently on the rise in German women’s tennis.
Seidel also with good development
DTB jewel Ella Seidel is already one step further, rounding off the German team alongside 31-year-old Anna-Lena-Friedsam. The 20-year-old is in team boss Rainer Schüttler’s squad for the first time.
Seidel repeatedly attracted a lot of attention this year and celebrated, among other things, her top 100 debut. What was particularly impressive was her entry into the round of 16 at the 1000 tournament in Cincinnati, where she defeated, among others, the top 10 player at the time, Emma Navarro.
“Ella is still new, but she has also achieved incredible results this year. (…) We are well positioned and well prepared,” says Schüttler.
It is currently still unclear whether the player, who also comes from Hamburg, will be used in Ismaning or whether Schüttler will rely on the experience factor.
Germany favorite against Belgium and Turkey
Either way, Germany will go into the weekend as favorites despite the weakened personnel. Especially since the Belgian team is also weakened by the absence of their number one, Elise Mertens, and the Turkish team, Zeynep Sönmez, is the nominally best player in 113th place.
However, this also creates expectations. Eva Lys will now show whether she is up to it.