Eva Lys picked up a tight loss in her first post-Australian Open tournament after the rising German tennis star failed to complete a big comeback in her opening match at the WTA 500 tournament in Linz.
After being one of the best stories of this year’s Happy Slam, the new world No. 91 returned to action this week.
In Linz – for which she accepted a wildcard – the German got a tricky first-round match and, although she fought hard, she didn’t manage to win as Martic claimed a 6-4 5-7 6-3 win in two hours and 42 minutes of play.
Throughout the match, Lys struggled with her serve and that was one of the biggest reasons behind her defeat – she won only 55 percent of points on her first serve, 49 percent of her second-serve points, and she faced 18 break points and lost her serve six times.
Eva Lys© WTA Linz/Instagram – Fair Use
At one point, it looked like Martic would complete a straight-set win after she had a chance to serve out for the match at 5-4 in the second set.
However, the German refused to quit and she responded with back-to-back breaks to overturn the deficit and force a decider.
Unfortunately for the 23-year-old, her bid to complete a big comeback fell short after she got broken in the first and ninth games of the third set.
Lys was coming off ‘the nicest week’ of her life
After reaching the Australian Open round-of-16 as a lucky loser – securing her best-ever Grand Slam result and a top-100 ranking but also making a bit of history – the German didn’t hide how happy she felt.
“It’s definitely I think the nicest week I’ve had in my life just because it wasn’t really only about the result, but also about the whole story,” Lys said in Melbourne.
“Getting in as a lucky loser last minute on the last day where it was possible, changing the flights, winning first time, winning second time, making it to top 100, I mean, this is the week I’ve been working for ages.”
Tennis World USA