Eva Lys advances to Australian Open fourth round as a 'lucky loser' at Melbourne Park

Eva Lys is making a habit of cancelling her flight out of Melbourne, but for good reason.

Making the most of her opportunity as a 'lucky loser', the German has advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open, where she will play second seed Iga Świątek.

Last Tuesday, Lys was given 10 minutes notice she would contest the first round of the main draw after 13th seed Anna Kalinskaya was a late withdrawal.

Lys had already booked her flight to leave the Victorian capital on Wednesday, but seized the moment to defeat Australian qualifier Kim Birrell in straight sets.

A win over of Varvara Gracheva in the second round followed, before Lys — ranked 128 in the world — beat Jaqueline Cristian 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the last 32 on Saturday.

The victory makes Lys the first lucky loser to reach the fourth round since the Australian Open was first contested at Melbourne Park in 1988.

She had only progressed from the first round of a major once in her previous five appearances.

Amid the post-match celebrations, Lys realised she would need to change her departure plans again after initially booking a flight out on Sunday.

"We actually changed the flight to tomorrow," Lys told reporters at Melbourne Park.

"Right now, I think after the press conference we're going to go and try to change it a little bit further.

"It's actually really funny. We just picked a date. We're like, 'Ok, Sunday is six days away. We're just going to pick Sunday'.

"So, it's actually pretty funny. I'm glad we have to change it now."

Lys has made the most of her opportunity after being a late addition to the main draw. (Getty Images: Robert Prange)

Lys's status as a lucky loser came about after she was eliminated in the final round of qualifying by Australian Destanee Aiava.

She was essentially on stand-by in case a player dropped out of the main draw, which occurred when Kalinskaya withdrew from the first round.

"It definitely doesn't feel real for me right now," Lys said.

"I don't know when the realisation will kick in. It's definitely just an amazing situation to be in, especially knowing that I was lucky loser.

"I think I found a picture of me sleeping the day I got in (the main draw).

"I was just trying to spend the time at the venue, trying to do something because I didn't really know what to do with my time.

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"I was just preparing for my flight the next day. It's definitely an insane story … how it happened, how fast it happened.

"It's been just a couple of days. Those days have totally changed my life. So, definitely I'm really thankful."

Lys's run to the fourth round means she will at least earn $420,000 from being included in the main draw.

Getting past former world number one Świątek will be a massive challenge, but Lys is relishing the chance to face the five-time major champion.

"I'm definitely really excited to play her. She's an amazing player," Lys said.

"I'm definitely waiting for matches like that. This is the reason why I play tennis. I'm definitely excited to be going out and play her."

Świątek was ruthless in defeating 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu 6-1, 6-0 in their third-round encounter.

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