Eva Lys experienced bitter disappointment at the Australian Open. A year after her miraculous move into the round of 16, Germany’s currently best tennis player had to admit defeat to the Romanian Sorana Cirstea 6:3, 4:6, 3:6 in Melbourne and was eliminated in the first round, like Tatjana Maria and Ella Seidel before her. After an unfocused and erroneous performance, Lys’ exit was sealed after 2:10 hours.
Lys caused a sensation in Melbourne last year as a so-called lucky loser and achieved her best Grand Slam result to date. It was the start of a strong season for Lys, which she ended as German number one.
Lys nervous and flawed
Against Cirstea, Lys seemed nervous and tense from the start. The fact that she had to defend many points in the world rankings after her successful run in 2025 seemed to inhibit the North German. Lys managed a quick break. But that didn’t really give her any security. Nevertheless, Lys took the first set after 42 minutes.
Now Lys’s nervousness seemed to subside somewhat. The world number 39 managed another quick break and the way to round two now seemed clear. But then Lys completely lost her rhythm. The Hamburger made many simple mistakes, which Cirstea used to equalize the set.
Lys now briefly left the place to collect herself. But there was no calm in their game. After another avoidable mistake, she smashed her racket onto the ground and gave up her serve with a double fault to make it 1:3. Lys was now becoming more and more hectic, making mistakes after mistakes.
Although she managed to equalize again to make it 3:3, she then lost her serve again and had to accept a very bitter defeat. In the end, 50 avoidable errors were simply too many.
