Qualifier Eva Lys survived a marathon and thriller in the Dubai first round as the rising German tennis star came back from a set down to beat fellow qualifier Irina Begu 5-7 7-5 6-3.
After making her best-ever Grand Slam run at this year’s Australian Open, the 23-year-old also won two qualies matches this past weekend to secure her first main draw spot at the WTA 1000 tournament in the United Arab Emirates.
And today, she also bagged her first main-draw win in Dubai after surviving a battle that lasted two hours and 35 minutes.
Now, Lys is set to play against No. 4 seed Jasmine Paolini, who had a first-round bye at the tournament.
Last month, the current world No. 87 also had a chance to play Iga Swiatek at Rod Laver Arena after reaching the Australian Open round-of-16 as a lucky loser.
When she meets Paolini – who made two Grand Slam finals last year – it will be another great opportunity for the 23-year-old to potentially make some noise and continue her breakout 2025.
Lys missed out on some chances against Begu but found a way to win
The rising German was 5-3 up in the first set and had two consecutive set points on her serve.
But then, she stunningly lost the next four points and got broken back.
Two games later, Begu broke the world…
