Jan 20, 2025; Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Eva Lys of Germany exits during her match against Iga Swiatek of Poland in the fourth round of the women's singles at the 2025 Australian Open at Melbourne Park.

tennis

‘Decision Was Incredibly Hard’ – Home Favourite Eva Lys Pulls Out of Hamburg Open 2025 With Emotional Message

Arthritis issue acts as latest setback for the German.

German No. 3 Eva Lys has made a shock announcement to withdraw from her home event at the 2025 Bitpanda Hamburg Open on Monday. The 23-year-old was set to compete in her Round of 32 match against unseeded Spaniard Leyre Romero Gormaz on Tuesday, which will not happen anymore. Gormaz will face Italy’s Nicole Fossa Huergo instead.

Lys is dealing with arthritis, which is a condition wherein one or more joints swell up. Ranked No. 55 in the world at the moment, the youngster is already on a career-high and bidding to enter the Top-50 for the first time in her career. One of the main title hopes for German fans, Lys was overhauled by Tatjana Maria and Laura Seigemund – who enjoyed a phenomenal grass court season.

Having started the year in extraordinary style by reaching the Australian Open Round of 16 through qualifying, the prodigious talent turned several heads. She also upset 28th seed Peyton Stearns in the French Open, before dropping out in Round-2 at Wimbledon. Gunning to make a successful return as the second half of the year gets underway, she will have to extend her excitement.

Eva Lys Drops Emotional Message After Pulling Out of Hamburg Open 2025

Considering the Hamburg Open is played on the clay courts in her home country, the withdrawal will be a specially difficult pill for Lys to swallow. She took to her Instagram stories to make the announcement late on Monday.

“Unfortunately, I have to share with you that I’ve made the difficult decision to withdraw from this year’s MSC Hamburg Ladies Open,” she said. “Since Wimbledon, I’ve been dealing with a flare-up of my arthritis, which currently makes it not possible for me to train or compete at the level I expect from myself – and more importantly, the level you all deserve.”

🤍 pic.twitter.com/uC3WEEEhIK
— Eva Lys (@evalys_) July 14, 2025

Having started playing tennis at the age of 5, Lys tasted success on the ITF circuit. She made her WTA Tour singles debut in 2022, and is still searching for her maiden championship glory. She continued, “I want to sincerely thank the organisers and fans for your understanding and support during this time. I’m doing everything I can to be back as soon as possible, and I hope to return to Hamburg next year.”

(Image Credits: Mike Frey, Imagn Images)

Australian Open

Eva Lys

Hamburg Ladies Open 2025

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Sankalp Harikrishnan

A passionate sports fan through and through, I am currently pursuing my MA in Global Sports Journalism. I specialise in tennis and football writing at The Playoffs News, and I have prior experience working at EssentiallySports and Sportskeeda. Born and raised in Bengaluru, India, sport was my safe space right from my childhood. After trying my hand at multiple sports and representing my educational institutions in cricket, badminton and table tennis, I found sports media to be my calling.