Eva Lys’s difficult season took another painful turn in Beijing on Thursday, with the German forced to retire in tears from her first-round match at the China Open while trailing 6-1, 3-0 against 16-year-old wildcard Xinran Sun. Lys appeared to struggle with her movement from early in the contest, visibly hampered on her left leg and foot, before ultimately being unable to continue just 43 minutes into the match.

The retirement adds to what has already been a brutal stretch for the world No. 102, who has not strung together consecutive wins since the WTA 250 in Osaka a year ago. Her problems stem from early January at the United Cup when she hyperextended her right knee while reaching for Suzan Lamen’s backhand. She pushed through the Australian Open with her knee taped, but lost in the first round itself against Sorana Cirstea, which even forced her to pull from her doubles tie as well after playing five games in the first set. After the loss, she had even admitted that she was just playing at 70% but still took it to three sets against Cirstea. 

She then spent almost two months on the sidelines, dropping out of Doha and Dubai and making a late withdrawal at Indian Wells, citing that her knee didn’t heal as fast as she had thought. Further adding to her recovery challenge, Lys has publicly admitted to suffering from spondyloarthritis, an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in the joints and results in chronic fatigue, which causes the rehabilitation to take much longer than a standard knee injury would. 

After returning to the tour at Miami and Stuttgart, the physical challenges persisted. Her entire clay and grass seasons were defined by a string of early exits. By the Canadian Open in August, the frustration boiled over, leading her to throw her racket and shed tears before retiring mid-match against Panna Udvardy. A planned return at the Prague Open was also never fulfilled, as she withdrew at the last minute for the same reasons. 

By the time she arrived in Beijing, she had already suffered 17 losses against just eight wins in the season, which included nine first-round exits. The 24-year-old German had started the year with her career-high ranking of No. 39, and had even reached the quarterfinals at the same tournament before losing to Coco Gauff. Now, she is out of the top 100, and direct qualification at the Australian Open also looms over her head.

A historic debut for the teenager on the other side of the net

The player who handed Lys that result is quickly becoming one of the most talked-about names in Chinese tennis. Sun, who turned 16 in July, entered the main draw on a wildcard ranked outside the world’s top 500. She entered Beijing with strong momentum following her victory over Anna Pushkareva in the US Open girls’ singles final, having previously finished as runner-up in the junior singles at both the French Open and Wimbledon this year. 

Although Sun was born in Shenzhen, she has been training in Belgrade since she was 10, building her game away from home and becoming one of the most talked-about young prospects in Chinese tennis. 

Her performance against Lys did nothing to dampen that reputation. Sun lost her opening service game, and after that she won nine consecutive games against a player who is ranked 500 spots higher than her with an aggressive baseline approach and the home crowd support. 

“Honestly I feel good on the court,” Sun said afterward. “I’m just making my tactic and just following what I need to do. Match go really well, like my way.” 

Her victory immediately made her the fourth-youngest match winner in WTA 1000 history since the format began in 2009, surpassing US Open finalist Amanda Anisimova on that list. 

The result will also send her rocketing up the rankings, with Sun set to climb 106 places to world No. 476 off the back of a single win, and she is not finished yet. She now moves on to face Spain’s Cristina Bucsa, ranked No. 35, in the second round, with a potential third-round meeting against either top seed Coco Gauff or Camila Osorio awaiting if she can pull off a second upset.