Eva Lys apologised to Paula Badosa after coming back from behind to beat her in Stuttgart (Image: Tennis Channel)
Eva Lys stormed back from a set and a double break down to beat friend and rival Paula Badosa at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on Tuesday, and then immediately apologised to her at the net. Lys has been battling a knee injury this year and had not won a match since January’s United Cup.
But she pulled off an incredible comeback to get a win at her home tournament in Stuttgart, battling back from a 2-6 1-4 deficit to clinch a 2-6 7-5 6-4 victory. As she approached Badosa at the net, Lys was seen saying: “I’m so sorry, Paula.”
Former world No. 2 Badosa has been battling her own injury issues over the past few years. A stress fracture in her back threatened to end her career altogether, but she was able to return to the world’s top 10. However, the Spaniard picked up a hip injury last season and barely played from Wimbledon onwards, and she has now dropped outside of the top 100, so Lys knew how painful the defeat was for Badosa.
Addressing the crowd after the match, the world No. 78 said: “I’m gonna be honest, she’s such an amazing player on and off the court, also an amazing friend, so it wasn’t easy for both of us to play. I definitely wanna give her my whole respect.”
Lys started her 2026 season by pushing Iga Swiatek to three sets at the United Cup, though she ultimately lost. The German star then beat Suzan Lamens in the team competition, but had not won a match since. She lost her opener at the Australian Open and did not play again until the Miami Open in March while battling a knee injury.
The 24-year-old then lost in the first round of the Charleston Open, and surprised herself by coming back to beat Badosa on the indoor clay in Stuttgart. “It’s definitely very emotional, especially because it’s the first win after my injury. I didn’t expect it to be coming this fast,” Lys explained.
Eva Lys earned her first match win in three months at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Image: Getty)
“Also very emotional because it’s never easy to play friends. It was a great fight from Paula. I mean, I have the biggest respect for her. She’s such an amazing and experienced player. It wasn’t easy, but at the end of the day, I’m just incredibly thankful, because the past months have been really, really tough, getting through the process, getting the knee healthy. It’s just a really good reward.”
The former world No. 39 also admitted she wasn’t sure how she turned the match around after being on the verge of defeat. “I went on court, and you guys could definitely see I wasn’t able to find my groove,” she said.
“I gotta give a big compliment to Paula, because she’s playing so fast, and she’s really taking so much time away from you, especially from a player that hasn’t had a lot of match experience the past weeks. But I really tried not to look at the score and just tried to find my game. I feel like my goal for this match was to come closer and closer to the tennis I want to play, just find the rhythm, find the shots, because I just didn’t have the opportunity to play matches.
“The longer the match went on, the better I started feeling, the better I started playing. Honestly, even in the second set, I didn’t really think about winning the match. I just thought about keeping the same pace and the same shots going. I didn’t expect to come out as a winner, but it just shows me that I’m definitely finding my game, and it’s definitely giving me confidence.”
Lys will now face fourth seed Elina Svitolina for a place in the quarter-finals
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