Australian Open: Swiatek ends Lys’ lucky loser run in brutal style to power into last eight

Iga Swiatek ruthlessly ended the remarkable run of lucky loser Eva Lys, crushing the German 6-0, 6-1 to advance to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for the second time in her career.

Lys has come into their last-16 encounter off the back of a record run as a lucky loser in the women’s singles at the Australian Open.

But she ran into a formidable player in frightening form at the moment.

Swiatek was clinical and dialled in from start to finish, barely offering Lys a moment to breathe in between her pummelling groundstrokes. A single hold of serve in the second set was all the German could muster against an opponent who is rewriting the standards at the top of women’s tennis.

Lys can leave Melbourne with her head held high and a first entry into the top 100 after making the most of her unexpected spot in the main draw following Anna Kalinskaya’s withdrawal.

For the Pole, she reaches her second quarter-final at the Australian Open, and she does so having dropped just 11 games across her opening four matches. Ominous.

swiatek – “a lot to improve”

“I’m still 23 years old, so there is a lot to improve always. I don’t feel like I’m in my peak yet but matches like that definitely give me confidence. I feel like I’m playing a good game.

“Usually I don’t feel comfortable with my game at the Australian Open, but this year it is a bit better. I’m just enjoying being on the court and off the court as well because I definitely have a good time here. Hopefully it’s going to last even longer.

“We don’t know what is going to happen in the future, maybe I will be better, but I’m glad that I’m able to play my game and for sure win. It makes an impact on how I feel on the court.”

Swiatek, ranked No 2, will play the winner of the match between American Emma Navarro, the No 8 seed, and Russian Daria Kasatkina, the No 9 seed, next.

Ahead of her victory, the Pole won against Katerina Siniakova (6-3, 6-4), Slovak Rebecca Sramkova (6-0, 6-2) and Emma Raducanu (6-1, 6-0).

Lys, ranked No 128, won against Australian qualifier Kimberly Birrell (6-2, 6-2), Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva (6-2, 3-6, 6-4) and Romanian Jaqueline Cristian (4-6, 6-3, 6-3) earlier in the tournament.

Melbourne (Grand Slam), other last-16 results (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 60.627.573, most recent results first):

• Emma Navarro vs. Daria Kasatkina: monday
• Madison Keys (19) beat Elena Rybakina (6): 6-3, 1-6, 6-3
• Elina Svitolina (28) beat Veronika Kudermetova: 6-4, 6-1
• Paula Badosa (11) beat Olga Danilovic: 6-1, 7-6 (2)
• Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (27) beat Donna Vekic (18): 7-6, 6-0
• Coco Gauff (3) beat Belinda Bencic: 5-7, 6-2, 6-1
• Aryna Sabalenka (1) beat Mirra Andreeva (14): 6-1, 6-2