Eva Lys has gone from sleeping at the Australian Open to reaching the second week as this is the story of a lucky loser’s dream becoming a reality.
Eva Lys entered the Australian Open a few weeks ago with a chance to qualify for the main draw but the German lost in the last round of qualifying.
Then came days of waiting and waiting and on the last day before she was due to depart Melbourne, Lys, while sleeping at the site, got the call that she was a lucky loser in the main draw.
Now Lys has completed a dream first week of the main draw by beating Jaqueline Cristian 4-6 6-3 6-3 to reach the last 16.
Speaking after her match Lys recalled how she got a spot in the draw and said that it hasn’t sunk in what she has achieved, “It definitely doesn’t feel real for me right now. I don’t know when the realization will kick in. It’s definitely just an amazing situation to be in, especially knowing that I was lucky loser,” Lys said in her press conference.
“I think I found a picture of me sleeping the day I got in. I was just trying to spend the time at the venue, trying to do something because I didn’t really know what to do with my time. I was just preparing for my flight the next day. It’s definitely an insane story, also for me, how it happened, how fast it happened. It’s been just a couple of days. Those days have totally changed my life. So definitely really thankful. I don’t know, feeling a little bit empty right now ’cause it’s just a lot happening.
“We actually changed the flight to tomorrow. Right now I think after the press conference we’re going to go and try to change it a little bit further. It’s actually really funny. We just picked a date. We’re like, Okay, Sunday is six days away. We’re just going to pick Sunday. So yeah, it’s actually pretty funny. I’m glad we have to change it now.”
An incredible story and one that typifies what Grand Slam tennis is about as Lys will now receive over $400,000 Australian Dollars in prize money.
Now Lys has the task of facing world number two Iga Swiatek in the last 16 and the German is excited to play the five-time Grand Slam champion, “Definitely really excited to play her. She’s an amazing player. I’m definitely waiting for matches like that,” Lys stated.
“This is the reason why I play tennis. Definitely excited to be going out and play her. I don’t remember, it was three or four years ago I played her. I was quite new to the WTA Tour. Even then I had amazing rallies with her. I lost 1-1. She had the streak going on, so she was playing really, really intense. I do think that you always have a chance going out.
“You never know what’s going to happen in the match. I will just try to keep my streak going, try to keep my spirit going. I’m just going to go out and enjoy.”
Swiatek leads the head-to-head 1-0 with the match set to take place on Monday.
