Eva Lys, ranked 128th in the world, made history on Saturday by becoming the first women’s singles “lucky loser” to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open since the event moved to Melbourne Park in 1988.
The 23-year-old German battled back from a set down to defeat Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, setting up a meeting with second seed Iga Swiatek.
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Lys, who was born in Ukraine, has had a whirlwind few days in Melbourne. After losing in the final round of qualifying last week, she thought her hopes of making the first major of the year were over.
With her bags packed and flight out of Melbourne booked, Lys hung about on the off-chance that another player would drop out. Her persistence paid off when 13th seed Anna Kalinskaya withdrew on Tuesday, giving Lys another chance at the Australian Open.
Lys had just 10 minutes’ warning before defeating home player Kimberly Birrell in straight sets in the first round, followed by a win against France’s Varvara Gracheva.
This marks Lys’s best performance at a major tournament to date.
Note: A ‘lucky loser’ is a player who loses in qualifying but later gets a ticket into the main draw following another player’s withdrawal, usually due to illness or injury.
