Lulu Sun into last 16 at Wimbledon

Lulu Sun has made it to the fourth round at Wimbledon, defeating China’s Zhu Lin 7-6(4) 7-6(6) on Friday.

In a match that started two hours late because of rain, Sun again showed her ability to battle through the tough moments and raise her game when it mattered most, particularly in saving 15 of the 18 break points she had on her serve.

By winning this match Sun has become the first female Kiwi to reach the fourth round of the singles at Wimbledon since Ruia Morrison in 1959 and has now won six matches in a row at this year’s Championships, including three victories in qualifying. 

“It was definitely tricky conditions today with the wind and waiting with the rain as well, and she's a tough opponent,” Sun said of this victory over the world No 61. 

“We had a lot of rallies as well as she had great service games. So it really came down to just a few points. 

“During the tiebreak, exactly as I said, it comes down to a few points. So just really nailing it down to each point and fighting each point is what got me through.”

Sun came back from being at 0-40 to hold in the second game and was also 15-40 down on her next service game.

Sun’s first break point came in the fifth game and she put in a disguised drop shot. Zhu ran in as quickly as she could but couldn’t get the ball over the net.

They swapped breaks later in the set, but when Sun served for it at 5-4, she had her only wobbly moment of the match, double-faulting three times.

However, in the tiebreaker, Sun got a mini break at 4-4 and Zhu put forehands wide to the right on the next two points.

Sun was broken in the opening game of the second set, but got the break back when Zhu was serving at 2-3. She also saved three more break points at 4-4.

So the match went to another tiebreaker, which was close all of the way through. 

But Sun got herself a match point on Zhu’s serve. The Kiwi pushed Zhu out wide to create the opening, got a short ball back and then hit it into the other corner for the winner.

The interest in Sun has exploded since Wimbledon began and in her press conference after this match she had a room full of journalists quizzing her about her unusual background. Like always, she was happy to go through it.

“I was born in the South Island of New Zealand (Te Anau),” she said.

“A very small town. Practically more sheep and deer than people. I spent a few years there with my grandma and my mom.

Then I moved a little bit to Shanghai. I stayed there for kindergarten a bit until we moved to Switzerland. 

My mom, she's very keen on education. She always told us that, yes, sports and whatever you dream of is important, but to get that education is important as well.

“My dad is Croatian. My stepdad, he's German-English, so he's from here. Growing up in Switzerland, I didn't spend too much time there when I started playing more and more juniors.” 

This win is expected to lift Sun’s world ranking from 123, to 74 which means she will make it directly into the main draw at next month’s US Open.

She has also earned herself £226,000 (NZ$471,000) in prize money by getting this far. 

Up to this week, the total prize money Sun had earned during her career was NZ$277,000.

In the fourth round on Sunday Sun will play against Britain's great hope Emma Raducanu.