DPA
Melbourne
Germany’s Eva Lys fairytale run at the Australian Open ended on Monday after world number two Iga Swiatek “ran me over like a train” in the last 16.
Five-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek prevailed 6-0, 6-1 in just 59 minutes and will face Emma Navarro in the quarter-finals.
“I definitely had fun, but not fun with the result,” Lys said.
The German became the the first women’s single lucky loser to reach the last 16 at the Australian Open Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday.
Lys, the world number 128, missed out on qualifying for the tournament but was handed another opportunity to compete in the main draw after a player pulled out.
In the end, it was “the best week” of her career.
“Sometimes you just need a second chance,” she said.
German tennis star Alexander Zverev praised his compatriot and said: “I hope the she takes this with her and can continue to play like this in the next tournaments.”
Zverev is chasing his maiden Grand Slam title and will face Tommy Paul in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.
Svitolina’s ‘fighting
spirit’ shines
Elina Svitolina was happy to bring some light to Ukraine with her victory over Russian Veronika Kudermetova in the fourth round.
Svitolina, who has refused to shake hands with Russian or Belarusian opponents after matches since the start of the war nearly three years ago, recovered from a poor start to win 6-4, 6-1 and reach her 12th grand slam quarter-final.
“This fighting spirit that I have is completely Ukrainian spirit that I try to show, that I try to represent, as well,” she said.
“Especially now these days in very difficult days for Ukraine. It’s almost been three years that the war is ongoing. Of course, it’s on a daily basis a very heavy rucksack that all Ukrainians have on their backs.
“For me to find a way to win matches, to find a way to bring a little light, a little win for Ukrainian people, is something that I feel I am responsible of. To bring the fight is the least that I can do.
“I feel like sometimes people, they forget that there’s still the war, that we still need help. Just for me, it’s very important to show the resilience, to show that I’m here to fight no matter what.”
In the last eight, Svitolina will take on in-form American Madison Keys, who upset sixth seed Elena Rybakina 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.
Keys won the warm-up event in Adelaide and played superbly to defeat the former finalist, who struggled with a back problem in her previous match.
Rybakina has been playing under a cloud of uncertainty surrounding coach Stefano Vukov, who she rehired earlier this month but who was unable to obtain an accreditation because he is provisionally banned by the WTA pending the outcome of an investigation into a potential breach of its code of conduct.
“Definitely, as I said before, this is not the situation I want to be or someone wants to be,” said Rybakina. “Of course, I want to have who I want in the box, but I couldn’t change it.
“At the end of the day, I just tried to focus on my matches, and I spoke with him. I also have Goran (Ivanisevic), so it didn’t affect the way I played today or any of the results, I think.”
