Lulu Sun’s unexpected grand slam rise lighting up Wimbledon

Before Emma Raducanu won the US Open in 2021, the idea that someone could win three matches to qualify for the main draw of a grand slam and then go all the way to the title seemed outlandish, if not plain ridiculous. That lightning might strike twice, in the name of Lulu Sun, a woman few even inside the tennis world had heard of before this week, seems almost insane.

But it’s possible. Ranked 123, the 23-year-old Sun shocked the No 8 seed Qinwen Zheng in the first round and then, on Sunday, ended Raducanu’s hopes of reaching a first Wimbledon quarter-final with a brilliant performance on Centre Court, whipping her lefty forehand into the corners to take her place in the last eight.

Remarkably, Sun shares a similar background to Raducanu. Born in New Zealand to a Chinese mother and Croatian father, the family moved first to Shanghai and then Switzerland because they were looking for their daughter to have an outstanding education. Raised in Geneva, she played junior tennis for Switzerland before switching her allegiance back to New Zealand in 2018 and then went to the University of Texas, in Austin, where she studied political science. She speaks three languages - English, Mandarin and French - and is learning Korean because she thinks it might help her to learn Japanese at some stage. Not your usual tennis player. Oh, and her stepfather is from Devon.

“Chinese, obviously from my mum’s side, is very disciplined, hard-working,” she said. “From my dad’s side, he’s from the seaside, so very laid back and calm. I guess that’s a good combo. I think from my mum’s side I get that feistiness and competitiveness. Then, Swiss side is neutral [making a calming gesture] and then from New Zealand I get that adventure side come out of me. I’m really happy to be able to have so many cultures and backgrounds with me even though sometimes I’m not, as I said before, 100 percent [fluent] in each one. It’s impossible to be. I’m really grateful to be able to at least have some of it.”

It’s fair to say that few people saw this coming. Not Sun herself, who had never played in the main draw here before and who only made her grand slam debut at the Australian Open this year. And certainly not New Zealand television, who had to move swiftly to arrange for her matches to be shown live only after she reached the third round.

Sun’s multicultural background means that she could have chosen any country to play for but having been born in a small town on New Zealand’s South Island called Te Anau, she felt a natural pull, much to the disappointment of the Swiss, who are crying out for a new star after the retirement of Roger Federer and with Stan Wawrinka nearing the end of his career.

It was a difficult choice, Sun says, but one she’s glad she made. “I grew up a little bit in New Zealand, I was born there, my family is still there,” she said. “I grew up in Switzerland as well. Both countries are dear to me. It wasn’t an easy decision because it never is when you have to choose between two things. Even now, I’m still grateful for everything that Swiss tennis has done in my junior career. At the same time I’m also grateful for Tennis New Zealand for their support and all that they’ve done so far.

“I think (reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals) is a major step because it brings inspiration and it brings to all the players in New Zealand something to look up – not just for myself, but as the country as a whole, as the tennis in New Zealand, to be able to look farther.”

The run will also change the trajectory of Sun’s career. Reaching the quarter-finals means she’s set to rise to around 53 in the rankings – if she beats Donna Vekic she’ll go inside the world’s top 40 – and the £375,000 pounds she’s guaranteed to take home for making the last eight dwarfs the $313,832 she’s made so far in her career.

Sun is the first New Zealand woman to make the quarter-finals here and the first person from her country to make the last eight since Chris Lewis, who was the runner-up to John McEnroe in 1983. She will play Vekic in the quarter-finals on Tuesday and though the Croatian has far greater experience, Sun is playing with such confidence and freedom that a place in the semis is more than possible.

“Vekic is obviously an experienced player, she’s been on tour for a long while, so I’m going to just prepare my best,” she said. “Obviously tomorrow we have a day off. I’m going to try to recover my best and then watch some matches and practice a little, give my all on the next day.”