Tennis player Eva Lys joins Lacoste in major sponsorship move as Asics loses another rising star

Lacoste announced the partnership on Jan. 4 through a social media campaign that showcased Lys’s personality and creative direction. In promotional videos, the Hamburg-based player demonstrated her self-deprecating humor while dressed in Lacoste’s signature styles. “Okay, so Lacoste asked me to creative-direct my own video, so let’s have fun,” Lys said in the campaign content. “They told me I still needed to put some tennis into the video.”

 

 

 

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The French brand described Lys as embodying the Lacoste spirit. “Positive, creative, fiercely competitive. On and off the court, she moves with confidence, instinct and a sharp sense of style. An inspiring talent, true to herself, who fully embodies the Lacoste spirit. Welcome to Lacoste, Eva,” the company stated.

Lys began her professional career with Nike before moving to Asics. Her departure from the Japanese sportswear company follows a pattern of high-profile exits from Asics’s tennis roster. In December, Australian men’s star Alex de Minaur, who spent 11 years with Asics, announced his move to Wilson Sportswear. The dual departures leave Italian player Jasmine Paolini as Asics’s primary women’s tennis ambassador.

Lacoste expands women’s tennis presence

The signing strengthens Lacoste’s position in women’s tennis. The brand’s current roster includes men’s stars Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev and Grigor Dimitrov, alongside women’s player Beatriz Haddad Maia. Lys will serve as a key figure in Lacoste’s women’s tennis strategy as the brand seeks to balance its historically male-dominated tennis partnerships.

Lacoste maintains deep connections to tennis heritage, dating to founder René Lacoste, one of France’s legendary “Four Musketeers” who won the 1927 Davis Cup and the 1929 French Championships. The brand has been a premium partner of Roland-Garros since 1971 and extended that partnership through 2030 in 2024. It also serves as official outfitter of the ATP Tour through 2026.

Breakthrough season drives commercial value

Lys’s 2025 campaign propelled her from world No. 130 at the season’s start to No. 40 by year-end, establishing her as Germany’s top-ranked player. She has since climbed to a career-high No. 39 in the Jan. 5, 2026 WTA rankings.

Her rise began dramatically at the Australian Open, where she entered the main draw as a lucky loser after Anna Kalinskaya withdrew minutes before their scheduled match. Lys reached the fourth round – defeating Kimberly Birrell, Varvara Gracheva and Jaqueline Cristian – before losing to Iga Swiatek. At the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing, Lys recorded her first career top 10 victory by defeating Elena Rybakina, the 2024 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix champion, en route to the quarterfinals. She finished the season with a 34-24 singles record and more than $1.1 million in prize money. 

Her improved ranking and visibility have translated into an expanding sponsorship portfolio. Porsche named Lys a “Friend of the Brand” in April 2025, building on her earlier development in the Porsche Junior Team and Porsche Talent Team. She also maintains partnerships with La Roche-Posay and Westwing.

Lacoste bets on rising stars

The athlete sponsorship landscape in tennis has seen significant movement entering 2026.Beyond De Minaur’s departure from Asics, Nick Kyrgios left Nike to become co-owner and creative director of Stack Athletics, while Frances Tiafoe switched from Nike to Lululemon. Lorenzo Musetti moved from Nike to Asics, partially offsetting the brand’s losses.

For Lacoste, securing Lys represents a bet on emerging talent rather than established stars. At 23 and already ranked in the world’s top 40, Lys offers growth potential and younger demographic appeal compared to legacy partnerships. Her creative personality—evidenced by the self-directed campaign content—aligns with Lacoste’s positioning at the intersection of sport and lifestyle.

The move also reflects broader shifts in how sporting goods brands approach tennis partnerships. Rather than concentrating resources on a few top-ranked players, brands increasingly diversify rosters to capture rising stars before peak market value. Lys’s trajectory from outside the top 100 to Germany’s No. 1 in a single season exemplifies the high-reward potential of early identification.

The new partnership coincides with United Cup campaign

Lys debuted her Lacoste partnership at the United Cup, where she leads Germany’s team as the No. 1 singles player. She opened with a victory over the Netherlands’ Suzan Lamens on Jan. 4 before facing world No. 2 Iga Swiatek the following day.

In the Jan. 5 match against Poland, Lys delivered an inspired performance that pushed Swiatek to the limit. The German won the first set 6-3 and held a 3-1 lead in the second set, playing her best tennis yet against the six-time Grand Slam champion. Swiatek, however, mounted a comeback to claim the second set 6-3 and the third set 6-4 after two hours and 26 minutes of play.

The performance marked Lys’s strongest showing against Swiatek, who had previously allowed her no more than two games in any set across six prior meetings. Despite the 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 defeat, Lys demonstrated the competitive level that attracted Lacoste’s attention. The Hamburg native narrowly missed what would have been a major upset to open her 2026 season.