Last Frenchwoman in the running at the Australian Open, Varvara Gracheva was eliminated in the second round by the German Eva Lys, Lucky-Loser in the tournament.
This Australian Open will have been catastrophic from start to finish for French female tennis! Varvara Gracheva had been the only player of the five tricolors in the running to save the honor by the first round. But that which will become French n ° 1 (and 69th in the world) in ten days has greatly disappointed the second.
Opposed to a player Lucky-Loser, the German Eva Lys, 128th in the world, Gracheva failed to prevail, bowing 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 after 1h57 of play.
The Frenchwoman has missed completely next to her first set, losing her entry service and 3-1, without having the slightest opportunity to break up. Breakée from the entrance to the second round, Gracheva managed to equalize (2-2), then to take the game of German at 4-3, before equalizing in a set all over its first opportunity. The counters were therefore reset, and the Frenchwoman started the last set, by getting four entry break balls, then in breakage at 1-1. But she didn’t hold! Lys has easily disabled in stride (2-2). The two players then perfectly resulted in play, up to 5-4 in favor of the German, who accelerated one last time to break and win on his first match ball!
2025 starts badly for French women’s tennis
At 23, Lys qualified for his first third round in Grand Slam, with a good blow to play against the Romanian Jaqueline Cristian (82nd). Author of 44 direct faults in this match (against 27 for her opponent), Varvara Gracheva could not really hope for better. In 2024, which was not a great year for French women’s tennis, Clara Burel, Océane Dodin and Diane Parry had played the third round. 2025 begins in the worst way for the Blue. Will tournaments in the Middle East in February, then in the United States in March, make it possible to reverse the trend? In the meantime, we will take a careful eye to Ksenia Efremova, expected as the succession of French female tennis, on the occasion of the Junior Australian Open.
