Eva Lys has significantly improved her career by breaking into the Top 40 of the WTA rankings, becoming the German number one player, and reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open last year as a lucky loser. Her success is attributed to her aggressive playing style, mental development, a strong support system, and a balanced approach to life on and off the court.
Eva Lys, who was born in the Ukraine, has grown into Germany's biggest tennis hope on the women's side during a remarkable 2025 season.
At just 23 years old Lys, who lives in Hamburg, has reached a career-high ranking of World No. 39 and secured her position as Germany’s top-ranked player.
Off the court, the talented youngster has faced challenges far more unsettling than those on the match court which she spoke about in a recent interview with "Süddeutche Zeitung".
“I’ve recently had to deal with stalkers who managed to get hold of the addresses of practice sites, hotels, and even my room numbers,” she said. “They were apparently obsessed with me. That crossed every possible line.”
Lys also says that every day she receives lots of negative messages on social media.
"It goes from "You're s...," progresses to insults about our appearance, and then to even worse things. There have been death threats. Some wrote that they wanted to attack me. Completely sick. There's nothing I haven't read. The hatred comes after every match, I could write books about it", says Lys, who, however, does not want to close down her social media accounts.
"I admit I really enjoy social media. I have wonderful conversations with my fans. And my community appreciates that I share so much of myself. I want to show a different side of tennis. And I don't want the hate comments to take that away from me. I've made it a habit not to turn my phone on immediately after a match; I try to cool down first. Hate mustn't win."
Lys on Monday showed that she could prove big test even for the best players in the world when she won the first set against Iga Swiatek at the United Cup 6-3 before she lost the next two 3-6, 4-6.