Eva Lys wrote a real tennis fairytale in Melbourne last week. The Hamburg native, who recently celebrated her 23rd birthday, had actually already failed to qualify for the Australian Open, but then embarked on the greatest run of success of her career. Lys first made it into the field "Down Under" due to Anna Kalinskaya's cancellation at short notice due to injury and then became the first female lucky loser to reach the last 16 of the Australian Open. The media immediately nicknamed her "Lucky Lys". Now the German newcomer wants to prove her great form in Linz. "It's something special for me to be back in Linz. It's one of my absolute favourite tournaments and I'd like to say a huge thank you to Sandra Reichel for giving me this wildcard. Especially after Australia, this is a great opportunity to compete with the best players in the world. It will be a huge challenge and I'm already looking forward to the match," said Lys after celebrating the biggest success of her career to date in Melbourne. Lys delivered the best result of the German players with her three main draw victories at the Australian Open 2025 before Iga Swiatek was one size too big. "That was definitely the best week of my career. This is exactly what I've been working for all these years. I'm just over the moon," summarised the Hamburg player at the end of an absolute dream tournament. With her outstanding performance, Lys also underlined her status as one of Germany's greatest hopes.

"I have followed Eva and her family very closely over the last few years and know exactly how much she has invested to celebrate this success. I'm delighted for her and very happy that she's now showing what she's made of here in Linz," says tournament director Sandra Reichel. 

Julia Grabher from Vorarlberg has also received a main draw wildcard and additional support on her comeback tour. The former top 60 player wants to return to the top of the world after her serious wrist injury and recently reached the round of 16 at the WTA 250 tournament in Auckland. There she only lost to former world number one Naomi Osaka. Grabher has been preparing for her home match in Linz since Friday. 

Belinda Bencic, on the other hand, had to cancel her participation in Linz. "I really would have loved to come to Linz, but I played an unexpected number of matches in Australia. After my pregnancy and comeback, I really have to listen to my body and take care of myself. I can promise to really do everything I can in the coming years to get back to Linz," said Bencic, who reached the round of 16 at the Australian Open in Melbourne, explaining her decision. In addition, Marketa Vondrousova has not yet recovered from the injury she suffered in Australia. Due to adductor problems, the Czech will not be able to serve in Linz.