IN her first match as a Top 100 player, German young gun Eva Lys was unable to overcome a hungry Petra Martic at the WTA Tour 500 event in Linz, as the recently turned 23-year-old suffered a 6-4 5-7 6-3 loss to an opponent 12 years her senior.

Martic is no stranger to success on the WTA Tour, reaching a career-high 14th in the world during the global pandemic, with a varied game that included a mix of serve and approach shots. While Lys is far more comfortable smashing winners from the baseline or midcourt, Martic forced the youngster out of her comfort zone.

The Croatian world number 125 – who has already risen nine spots thanks to the result – hit seven winners from drop shots and produced eight aces. Lys – who does not have as powerful serve as others – only produced three aces and did not hit a winner at the net. She smashed 30 forehand winners and 15 backhand winners en route to eight more total winners (48-40), but Martic’s variety of game saw her home.

Martic plays within her limits, and while others can often find open looks due to the risks she takes to come to the net, against Lys it paid off. She only hit 26 unforced errors to Lys’ 47 as the German was still recovering from a hectic run at the Australian Open where she reached a career-best fourth round and cracked the Top 100 for the first time.

Though Martic had the chance to serve for the match in the second set at 5-4, Lys broke her twice in the next three games and held herself to close it out and send the match to a third set decider. However Martic grabbed an early break to go 2-0 up and never looked back, able to secure the victory in a time of two hours and 42 minutes.

As shown in the above table, Lys can produce some huge winners, but the next step in her game is variety. Without a dominant serve, she relies on controlling points from the baseline, and rarely approaches the net unless forced to. On the other hand, Martic is more than comfortable approaching the net.

Martic will set her sights on the winner of seventh seeded Armenian Elina Avanesyan versus Australian Open doubles champion Katerina Siniakova in the Round of 16. The pair plays tonight in one of only two remaining Round of 32 matches.

ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:

[5] Dayana Yastremska (UKR) defeated Lucia Bronzetti (ITA) 7-5 7-5
[6] Anastasia Potapova (RUS) defeated [WC] Julia Grabher (AUT) 6-2 6-2
[8] Clara Tauson (DEN) defeated Anhelina Kalinina (UKR) 6-3 6-3
Viktoriya Tomova (BUL) defated Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (ESP) 7-6 6-4
Sorana Cirstea (ROU) defeated Arantxa Rus (NED) 5-7 6-2 6-3
[Q] Antonia Ruzic (CRO) defeated Maya Sherif (EGY) 6-3 6-4
[Q] Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP) defeated Lulu Sun (NZL) 6-3 6-3
Rebecca Sramkova (SVK) defeated Elisabetta Cocciaretto (ITA) 7-5 7-5
[Q] Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) defeated [Q] Anastasia Zakharova (RUS) 6-3 7-6
[Q] Petra Martic (CRO) defeated [WC] Eva Lys (GER) 6-4 5-7 6-3