Beijing Prediction; Lys vs Kessler 9/30/2025 Today’s Tennis Picks

World No. 66 Eva Lys will face World No. 39 McCartney Kessler in the fourth round of the 2025 China Open in Beijing. The match is scheduled for Tuesday, September 30. Here’s our Eva Lys vs McCartney Kessler prediction. This preview will also include an Eva Lys vs McCartney Kessler pick.

Eva Lys vs McCartney Kessler Preview

Eva Lys is through to the China Open fourth round for the first time in her career after an excellent first week in Beijing. Lys kicked off the tournament with a routine win over home wild card Ruien Zhang, where she lost just one game in the match. The German was tested in the second round, where she overcame 17-year-old Iva Jovic in a three-set humdinger. Lys won 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in two hours and 39 minutes.

But none of those victories matched the quality and drama of her third-round match, where she toppled eighth seed Elena Rybakina in three sets. Lys needed two hours and 16 minutes to defeat the big-serving Kazakh 6-3, 1-6, 6-4. It was her first career top 10 win and which propelled her to the round of 16 in Beijing and with a glorious chance to make it to the quarters.

McCartney Kessler is also through to the round of 16 in Beijing for the first time and improves from last year’s first-round exit. Kessler also beat a home wild card in the opening round, although she needed a second-set tiebreak to settle it in straight sets against Han Shi.

Kessler shocked 20th seed Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-4 in the second round to set up a meeting against two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova. That match was tightly contested with Krejcikova taking the first set in dominant fashion 6-1, but Kessler hit back in the second, rallying from 2-4 down and then saving a crucial break point to hold for 6-5, before breaking for the set in the next game. Kessler led 3-0 in the third set when Krejcikova retired from the match.

Eva Lys vs McCartney Kessler Head-To-Head

Lys and Kessler have played twice at the WTA level. Lys leads 2-0 and won both matches on hard courts over Kessler, at the 2023 US Open and last year in Osaka.

Eva Lys vs McCartney Kessler Prediction

A very close match is the offing here, but I’m giving Lys the edge. She leads the head-to-head, and most importantly, both matches happened on hard courts, which can be regarded as Kessler’s strongest surface. The German has also had a more testing campaign in the first week, beating an in-form Jovic and then outlasting Rybakina for her first career top 10 win. I expect her to carry the confidence and momentum and seize this wonderful opportunity to reach the business end in Beijing.