Eva Lys at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix: With a lot of guts to the greatest victory
Eva Lys (WTA No. 342) celebrated her first victory at WTA level at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2022 - after a physical effort. Now she can play against the number 1 in the world: Iga Swiatek.
by Florian Goosman from Stuttgart
last edit: Apr 19, 2022, 06:54 pm
Eva Lys first got down on her knees after she had taken heart and kicked the final forehand into the right corner out of reach of opponent Victorija Golubic. Then she collected herself, dutifully shook hands with Golobic, then went to her box, followed by a hug for dad and coach Vladimir, one for Barbara Rittner and, because she was a little further back, a longer handshake with Mama Maria.
The 20-year-old had just fought for 3 hours and 9 minutes in the first game of the day in the Porsche Arena, it only ended shortly before 4 p.m., 5: 7, 7: 5 and 7: 5 for Lys.
And it's safe to say that many players would have lost this match. Players who are not called Eva Lys.
Eva Lys does not regret missed opportunities
Lys got off to a brilliant start. Not a trace of nervousness, at least not on the outside (inside, as she confessed later, because she hadn't slept much the night before). Lys made the early break, then had to give it up, made it again... and eventually led 5-3. She missed a set ball and suddenly Golubic was there and Lys lost the set 5:7. It was the first moment in which such a game can end very quickly.
But Lys collected himself brilliantly and continued in the second round exactly what she had stopped doing after the set ball was given away: with powerful groundstrokes, enough patience with the variable Swiss, who kept trying to annoy Lys with high balls and deep slices. Impressive rally at 6:5 for Lys, when Golubic dominated the rally and the player from the Porsche Talent Team sent left to right and right to left, but Lys managed a wonderful passing shot in the end. Shortly afterwards she had managed to equalize the set.
The decisive passage was not for the faint-hearted: Lys made the break to make it 4: 2, got the rebreak straight away and then had a 0:40 on Golubic's serve. Bitter the third breakball, which already looked over the wobbly edge of the net, but then fell down on Lys' side. She had three more chances to break, but Golubic made the game and took the serve from Lys to make it 5:4.
Lys, however, was not discouraged again, allowed herself the soft fist to cheer herself on when she marched to the baseline after the change of sides, managed the rebreak. And shortly afterwards cheered about the first win in a WTA tournament - in her first main draw ever.
Lys had only played her way into the main draw via her wildcard for qualification.
Now against number 1: Iga Swiatek
Lys thanked the audience on the court, which had gradually increased over the three hours, she said that she had not mourned the many missed opportunities, "It doesn't make sense to get upset about these points, man I have to keep playing and take every chance," she said in the style of a hardened player who has been on the tour for 20 years and is not just 20 years old.
The question is how many chances the good Eva Lys will get in the next match: There she will meet number 1 in the world, Iga Swiatek, who is currently on a mere 19 wins in a row after tournament successes in Doha, Indian Wells and Miami. She is extremely looking forward to the match, says Lys, "It's also a moment for me to see where I stand with my tennis."
One thing is clear: Lys can play completely freely here, more freely than perhaps ever before in her young career. Irrespective of this, she will be able to celebrate a new best performance in the WTA ranking by entering the top 300 for the first time. Tendency: rising sharply!