Eva Lys first sank to her knees, then covered her face with her hands in disbelief: she had just won 4:6, 6:3, 6:3 against Jaqueline Cristian (Romania). After shaking hands with her opponent at the net, she ran with a look that couldn’t possibly be true to mother Maria and sister Bella, who were cheering in the stands waiting for a hug. The 22-year-old actually achieved something incredible, even historic, this Saturday at the Australian Open: She is the first so-called “lucky loser” in the history of the Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne to make it to the round of 16.
She is already being called “Lucky Lys” at the facility, given the fact that she lost in the last round of qualifying last week and could have gotten on the plane home. However, she stayed and slipped into the main field due to Anna Kalinskaja’s late withdrawal. Since then she has been winning and winning and winning – just like the third round game on Saturday Court 3 against Cristian.
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So stay relaxed. That’s exactly what national coach Torben Beltz tried to convey during training before this potentially historic game. He has to step in as a temporary coach in Melbourne because Lys’ father and coach Wladimir had to travel back to Germany after qualifying due to professional obligations. It wasn’t a training session on Friday, but rather a relaxed session and, above all, a lot of fun. When practicing the serve, it wasn’t Beltz or the second DTB trainer present who returned it, but sister Bella – it wasn’t the professional player’s successful hits that were celebrated, but the little sister’s (often very good ones, by the way). Then, when Lys had already finished the training: a few rallies between Beltz and Bella, and at the end the note that Lys definitely had a chance the next day if she acted as relaxed and confidently as her sister does now on training spot 22.
Lys starts with trembling hands
That’s exactly what happened on Saturday in the midday heat of Melbourne, the thermometer showed 34 degrees in the shade. Yes, Lys started with trembling hands. She quickly found herself trailing 1:4 and briefly looked as if she was really going to let this great opportunity slip away against a furious opponent. The amazing thing at that moment, however, was that she didn’t become more nervous, but rather calmer. And Beltz, her mother and sister Bella in the stands also remained completely calm. Lys threw the racket after three missed break chances and then losing the first round out of frustration that she had actually lost this set despite a comeback and a much better performance.
When communicating between Beltz and Lys – coaching is now allowed in professional tennis – there was no tactical analysis, no technical tips, as in training the day before. Rather, Beltz suggested that Lys’s shots, which had landed a few millimeters out of bounds at the beginning of the game, ended up sailing into the field and that Cristian had saved the round rather than actually won it. This “keep having fun, it’s going well” message from Beltz was a formidable psychological trick. From the beginning of the second set, Lys dominated with variable groundstrokes, which now fell into the field more often – and now Cristian suddenly had a shaking hand.
Of course, the Romanian knew how carefree Lys had played through the tournament so far, and she also knew that if the 22-year-old German grabbed this opportunity so boldly, she shouldn’t get nervous herself – which often makes you even more tense. And that’s how it was: Lys hit and hit and hit. Lys hit a total of 34 winning shots over the net, Cristian didn’t even manage half of them – and that was exactly the difference in the end (both made exactly the same number of errors: 64): the researchers, the more aggressive, the more carefree, etc. won that was again: Lucky Lys.
It is no longer a coincidence what is happening at this Australian Open. It’s the courageous action of someone who, as Lys says, wants to take advantage of this mega-hot opportunity. On Monday, Lys will face five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek (Poland), who literally shot Emma Raducanu (2021 US Open winner) off the court in the quarterfinals, 6-1, 6-0. Of course Lys noticed this, but it shouldn’t make her nervous. For the past week she has been behaving like someone who has nothing to lose but a lot to gain.
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