A first Sunday at Wimbledon became Lulu Sun’s day as the Kiwi continued her stunning run from qualifying to advancing to the quarter-finals.
Playing in the second week for the first time and making her maiden appearance on centre court, the Kiwi 23-year-old was cool and composed throughout and 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 victory over British hometown favourite Emma Radacanu is a match that lasted almost three hours.
Sun is the first qualifier to reach the final eight at Wimbledon since 2010 and is the first New Zealand female to get as far as the quarter-finals on the famous grass courts. And based on her strong service and volley game today it wouldn’t be a shock her run doesn’t stop when she faces world number 37 Donna Vekic of Croatia on Wednesday for a spot in the semifinals.
“It was a great match. Emma she really digged deep there. I really had to fight tooth and nail to get the win. She’s obviously going to run for every ball and fight until the end. I’m just incredibly... I just don’t have the words right now,” a tearful Sun said in her post-match interview.
“I’m super happy to play on this court in front of all of you, it’s just such an amazing experience for me,” a Sun said on playing on centre court for the first time, despite the fact the crowd was urging for Raducanu to victory throughout the match.
Sun is the first qualifier in 14 years to reach the quarter-final stage in the women’s draw, the last being Kaia Kanepi in 2010.
The Te-Anau bord Sun earns 375,000 pounds ($782,056) for reaching the final eight, her biggest payday of her young career.
With a strong home crowd backing Raducanu, the left-handed Kiwi silenced the fans with two early breaks to go out to a 3-0 lead.
Raducanu broke back on a Sun double fault in the fourth game and cut the lead back to 3-2. But the 23-year-old Sun, playing in her first fourth round at a grand slam, broke for a third time in the seventh game. She then served strong to take out the opening set.
With a 15-2 winners count in her favour, Sun dominated the opening set.
The Kiwi’s amazing run through the Wimbledon qualifying rounds and three rounds of the main draw is the best by a New Zealand female in the Open era – and matches Dame Ruia Morrison who reached the fourth round in 1957 and 1959.
The last New Zealander to reach the fourth round of the singles draw at Wimbledon was Brett Steven in 1997, where he was defeated by eventual finalist Cedric Pioline, while Belinda Cordwell was the last Kiwi woman to reach a grand slam fourth round (Australian Open 1988 and 1989).
