New Zealand’s Lulu Sun achieved the biggest victory of her career by defeating Chinese world number eight, Qinwen Zheng, in the first round at Wimbledon. Sun, who made her debut in the Wimbledon main draw, triumphed with a score of 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, surprising many who expected Zheng to win easily.
Te Anau-born Sun switched her allegiance from Switzerland to New Zealand in March and is the first New Zealander in seven years to reach a grand slam singles main draw. To get there, she had to win three qualifying matches, following in the footsteps of Marina Erakovic, who last achieved this for New Zealand in 2017.
Previously, Sun had only competed in one grand slam, exiting in the first round of this year’s Australian Open while still representing Switzerland. Her win over Zheng marks her first victory against a top 50 player and is expected to improve her world ranking from 123rd to within the top 100.
In the second round, Sun will face Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtsewa, ranked 153rd, who advanced by defeating Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck in straight sets.
pretty cool mate good work
big well done to Hayden, congrats to him, sucks that the britland took the 1st, quite sad, but that part of the game, wish we won though, well done to GB and everybody else, New Zealand deserved it.
2028 LA Olympics here we go!!
amazing
good
Good job Hayden you gave it all you had
Amazing, I can’t believe we got silver, maybe we can win the Olympics if we try hard! Go boy!
Hayden must have showed a lot of the Olympic values to help Alex across the finish line
Hayden must have trained a lot to win a silver medal for us