History-making 'lucky loser' Lys into Australian Open last 16 / Photo: © AFP
History-making 'lucky loser' Lys into Australian Open last 16
Eva Lys made history on Saturday as the 128th-ranked German battled into the fourth round of the Australian Open to set up a meeting with second seed Iga Swiatek.
The 23-year-old fought back from a set down to become the first women's singles "lucky loser" to reach the fourth round since the event moved to Melbourne Park in 1988.
She defeated Jaqueline Cristian of Romania 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
A "lucky loser" is a player who loses in qualifying but later gets a ticket into the main draw following another player's withdrawal, usually because of illness or injury.
It has been a whirlwind few days for Ukraine-born Lys.
She lost in the final round of qualifying in Melbourne last week, her hopes of making the first major of the year seemingly over.
Her bags were packed and her flight out of Melbourne booked.
But she hung about on the off-chance that another player would drop out and 13th seed Anna Kalinskaya did just that on Tuesday, suddenly giving Lys another Australian Open life.
She said she had just 10 minutes' warning before defeating home player Kimberly Birrell in straight sets in the first round, then beat Varvara Gracheva of France.
This is Lys's best performance at a major.
W.Phillips--TNT
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