"Let's not forget the harsh reality whenever we lose a match" - Eva Lys responds to hate comment posted after dream run at China Open halted

It has been a memorable week for Eva Lys, who reached the quarter-final of the China Open, claiming her first top 10 win in the process. Despite the high she got from this, the German would unfortunately be the target for hate comments after her defeat to Coco Gauff.

Lys has made leaps and bounds this year, regularly qualifying for WTA 1000 events, and even picking up wins in them. But this competition was where she put herself on the map. She overcame Chinese wildcard Ruien Zhang and 17-year-old talent Iva Jovic, before completing a magical three set victory over former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina. She did not stop there, as she came back from a one-set deficit to defeat McCartney Kessler, which set up an intriguing quarter-final against the world number three,

Gauff had been struggling for form but had seemed to have got a hold of them once she took to the Beijing courts. The two-time Grand Slam winner was too strong for Lys, beating her 6-3, 6-4. Lys will now rise into the top 50 for the first time, up to world number 45 after a fine week of tennis. However, not everyone has enjoyed her rise up the rankings, as the 23-year-old would find out on social media.

Social media can be a really tough place for a sportsperson. With the whole world watching you, everyone is going to have an opinion, and they are not always nice. On her Instagram story, Lys shared a horrible message posted by another user, highlighting an ongoing problem in tennis.

The message read: "I wish this w***e and her bigger w***e mother die the death of swines. f***ing match seller, you should bun in hell, s**t player. Your pathetic mother a w***e who had given birth to a w***e like you. I wish she died in your arms really soon."

Lys re-posted this while making her feelings clear on the situation. Her response to this said: "And lets not forget the harsh reality whenever we lose a match."

This sad state of affairs is common in tennis, with many stars getting plagued with abhorrent messages and toxic comments. Numerous players have commented on this, with some avoiding looking at comments and responses after losing a match. The WTA and ATP have put efforts in to prevent this from continuing, but it has not worked, with this evidence to Lys a prime example.