The Australian Open 2025 is entering its decisive phase. In the women's tournament, the fourth round is being completed. On Monday, from 9:00 a.m. Polish time, Iga Świątek will compete with Eva Lys.
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The clash between the WTA ranking runner-up and the currently 128th ranked Tennis player in the world will take place on the main court of Rod Laver Arena. Lys appears in Melbourne as a “lucky loser” – a tennis player who was eliminated in the AO qualifying round and played in the main tournament after Russian Anna Kalińska withdrew from the competition.
The Pole and the German had previously had the opportunity to meet only once on the court. This match took place at the end of April 2022 as part of the WTA 500 tournament in Stuttgart. It was a special performance for Świątek – she played for the first time in a Women's Tennis Organization event after officially becoming number one in the world.
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Our competitor formally took the lead on April 4. A moment later, in Radom, she took part in the team competition in the Poland – Romania match as part of the Billie Jean King Cup organized by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). Then she went to Germany for the Women's Tennis Organization (WTA) tournament.
Iga Świątek has already played with Eva Lys
In Stuttgart, Iga Świątek, due to being seeded number one, had the so-called a free draw in the first round – she entered the competition from the second round, in which she faced Ewa Lys. The hosts' representative got to the main tournament through qualifications, and in the first round she defeated the Swiss Wiktoria Golubić 5:7, 7:5, 7:5.
Lys, when facing Świątek, had a chance to meet the leader of the women's tennis ranking for the first time. She could have felt nervous – especially since her opponent showed from the very beginning of the match that it was no accident that she had just become the number one racket.
The Pole dictated the conditions, playing very aggressively, pushing the German to defense. Świątek served great and caused her opponent a lot of problems with her return. After 20 minutes she was leading 4-0. She even had a chance to win the first game to zero, but the hosts' representative defended her pass. The result was 6:1.
-The second game looked similar – total domination by Iga Świątek. The pace of the game set by the Pole was too fast for the German. Many short actions, points scored directly by Świątek. The only moment of joy in the stands came when Lys broke the favorite at 0:5 from her perspective.
The German tennis player saved the match ball and then won the advantage game. However, she was unable to keep her own serve and after 64 minutes she lost 1:6, 1:6. With the match ball, the Pole surprised her opponent with a short play, after which the players said goodbye warmly at the net.
After almost three years, Iga Świątek is now the runner-up in the ranking, and Lys is still fighting to break through to the top. For the German, the fourth round of the Australian Open is the greatest success in her career so far. Previously, she had passed the first round of a Grand Slam only once – in the US Open 2023 (second round).
In Stuttgart, the ladies competed on a clay court, in Melbourne they will compete on a hard court. Ewa Lys' attitude on her own serve may be crucial for the fate of this match.
– Eva hits hard from deep inside the court, there are no weaknesses in the backhand or forehand. In the third round match against Jaqueline, Cristian had the same number of winners on both sides. Her greatest weakness remains her passing – described German tennis journalist Andreas Thies in an interview with Sport.pl.
Who is in the AO quarterfinals?
During their aforementioned meeting in Stuttgart, the German won only 41 percent of the points after the first serve and 35 percent after the second. In Monday's match against Poland, he needs much better service statistics if he dreams of causing a sensation.
Especially since Iga Świątek looks great at this year's Australian Open. She won 6:3, 6:4 against Czech Katerina Siniakova; 6:0, 6:2 with Slovak Rebecca Sramkova and 6:1, 6:0 with British Emma Raducanu. In the last match she played in concert – also on the return. Lys must serve much better than Raducanu if she does not want to suffer her fate.
The winner of the match Iga Świątek – Eva Lys will play in the quarterfinals against the better pair of Daria Kasatkina – Emma Navarro. Broadcasts from the Australian Open tournament on Eurosport and on the Max platform. Reports on Sport.pl.
