Lulu Sun (born Lulu Radovcic; 14 April 2001) is a New Zealand and Swiss tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking by the WTA of world No. 123, achieved on 24 June 2024, and a best doubles ranking of No. 219, reached on 6 May 2024.

Lulu Sun
Country (sports) Switzerland (– Apr 2024)
 New Zealand (Apr 2024 –)
[1][2]
ResidenceGeneva, Switzerland
Born (2001-04-14) 14 April 2001 (age 23)
Te Anau, New Zealand
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Turned pro2022
PlaysLeft-handed (two-handed backhand)
CollegeTexas
CoachVladimir Platenik[3]
Prize moneyUS$ 280,515
Singles
Career record220–121 (64.5%)
Career titles7 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 123 (24 June 2024)
Current rankingNo. 123 (24 June 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open1R (2024)
French OpenQ2 (2024)
Wimbledon4R (2024)
Doubles
Career record66–47 (58.4%)
Career titles4 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 219 (6 May 2024)
Current rankingNo. 220 (24 June 2024)
Last updated on: 25 June 2024.

Early and personal life

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Sun was born in New Zealand, to a Croatian father and a Chinese mother. She was raised in Switzerland from the age of 5, where she completed her school education. She attended college in the United States at the University of Texas at Austin,[4] graduating in 2022 with a BA in Political Science.[citation needed]

She has an older sister Phenomena Radovcic (born in 1998) who played in professional tournaments until 2016.[5]

Career

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Juniors

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Sun represented Switzerland as a junior, finishing runner-up with Violet Apisah in the 2018 Australian Open girls' doubles, but also played under the New Zealand flag at junior Wimbledon that year, losing in the second round in singles and the first round in doubles.[6]

2022: Professional and WTA Tour debuts

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Before turning pro in 2022,[citation needed] Sun played college tennis at the University of Texas in Austin.[7] In 2021, she competed in the NCAA DI women’s tennis championship for UT Austin, clinching the match and winning the third ever NCAA championship.[citation needed]

In May 2022, she won her first big ITF title at the Saint-Gaudens Open, partnering Fernanda Contreras in doubles.[8] She made her WTA Tour main-draw debut at the Morocco Open just two days later, where she received a wildcard into the singles draw.[9]

2024: Major, WTA 1000 debuts, historic Wimbledon fourth round, top 100

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Sun made her Grand Slam debut at the 2024 Australian Open after qualifying.[10][11] On her WTA 1000 debut, she recorded her first win at that level at the Dubai Championships as a wildcard, following the retirement of Paula Badosa. As a result, she moved to a new career-high singles ranking of No. 151, on 26 February 2024.

In April, Sun played under the New Zealand flag for the first time as part of the team for the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup.[12][1] In May, Sun won the singles and doubles titles at the W100 Bonita Springs tournament in Florida.[13] She reached the top 125 on 17 June 2024.

She qualified for the 2024 Wimbledon Championships making her debut at this Major and upset eighth seed Zheng Qinwen in the first round. It was her first top 10 win, and also her first completed victory over any player in the top 100.[4] Next, she reached the third round with a win over fellow qualifier Yulia Starodubtseva and the fourth with a win over Zhu Lin. She equalled the feat of reaching the fourth round at the All England Club as the first New Zealand female player in the Open Era, and second after Dame Ruia Morrison in 1957 and 1959.[14][15] As a result she reached the top 75, moving close to 50 positions up in the live rankings.

Grand Slam performance timelines

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record; .
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles

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Tournament 2022 2023 2024 SR W–L Win%
Australian Open A A 1R 0 / 1 0–1 0%
French Open A A Q2 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Wimbledon Q3 A 4R 0 / 1 0–0  – 
US Open A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–1 0 / 2 0–1 0%

ITF Circuit finals

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Singles: 12 (7 titles, 5 runner-ups)

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Legend
W100 tournaments (1–0)
W80 tournaments (1–0)
W60 tournaments (0–1)
W40/50 tournaments (1–0)
W25 tournaments (1–2)
W15 tournaments (3–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (6–4)
Clay (1–1)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Oct 2017 ITF Nonthaburi, Thailand W15 Hard   Choi Ji-hee 2–6, 3–6
Win 1–1 Feb 2019 ITF Port Pirie, Australia W15 Hard   Jennifer Elie 6–2, 6–3
Win 2–1 Feb 2019 ITF Perth, Australia W15 Hard   Jennifer Elie 7–6(1), 6–3
Loss 2–2 Nov 2020 ITF Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt W15 Hard   Joanna Garland 5–7, 3–6
Win 3–2 Dec 2020 ITF Monastir, Tunisia W15 Hard   Carole Monnet 6–0, 2–6, 6–2
Loss 3–3 Jun 2021 ITF Palma del Río, Spain W25 Hard   Rebeka Masarova 3–6, 6–1, 6–7(4)
Win 4–3 Jul 2021 ITF Lisbon, Portugal W25 Hard   Ellen Perez 6–4, 6–4
Loss 4–4 Jan 2023 ITF Boca Raton, United States W25 Clay   Renata Zarazúa 2–6, 5–7
Win 5–4 Aug 2023 Aberto da República, Brazil W80 Hard   Léolia Jeanjean 6–4, 4–6, 6–2
Loss 5–5 Oct 2023 Rancho Santa Fe Open, United States W60 Hard   Yuliia Starodubtseva 5–7, 3–6
Win 6–5 Feb 2024 ITF Roehampton, United Kingdom W50 Hard (i)   Heather Watson 7–5, 7–5
Win 7–5 May 2024 Bonita Springs Championship, United States W100 Clay   Maya Joint 6–1, 6–3

Doubles: 10 (4 titles, 6 runner–ups)

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Legend
W100 tournaments (1–0)
W60/75 tournaments (2–1)
W40/50 tournaments (1–0)
W25 tournaments (0–3)
W15 tournaments (0–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–5)
Clay (2–1)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Jan 2019 Playford International, Australia W25 Hard   Amber Marshall   Giulia Gatto-Monticone
  Anastasia Grymalska
2–6, 3–6
Loss 0–2 Nov 2020 ITF Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt W15 Hard   Valentina Ryser   Ksenia Laskutova
  Daria Mishina
6–7(3), 7–6(2), [10–12]
Loss 0–3 Nov 2020 ITF Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt W15 Hard   Valentina Ryser   Elina Avanesyan
  Iryna Shymanovich
4–6, 1–6
Loss 0–4 Jun 2021 ITF Palma del Río, Spain W25 Clay   Himari Sato   Eri Hozumi
  Valeria Savinykh
6–7(6), 3–6
Win 1–4 May 2022 Open Saint-Gaudens, France W60 Clay   Fernanda Contreras Gómez   Valentini Grammatikopoulou
  Anastasia Tikhonova
7–5, 6–2
Win 2–4 Feb 2023 Georgia's Rome Open, United States W60 Hard (i)   Fanny Stollár   Mana Ayukawa
  Gabriela Knutson
6–3, 6–0
Loss 2–5 Jul 2023 ITF Corroios, Portugal W25 Hard   Sofia Costoulas   Talia Gibson
  Petra Hule
3–6, 6–3, [6–10]
Win 3–5 Feb 2024 Trnava Indoor, Slovakia W50 Hard (i)   Moyuka Uchijima   Weronika Falkowska
  Fanny Stollár
6–4, 7–6(3)
Loss 3–6 Mar 2024 Říčany Open, Czech Republic W75 Hard (i)   Fanny Stollár   Gabriela Knutson
  Tereza Valentová
4–6, 6–3, [4–10]
Win 4–6 May 2024 Bonita Springs Championship, United States W100 Clay   Fanny Stollár   Valentini Grammatikopoulou
  Valeriya Strakhova
6–4, 7–6(3)

Top 10 wins

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She has a 1–0 (100%) record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.

# Opponent Rank Event Surface Round Score LSR
2024
1.   Zheng Qinwen 8 Wimbledon Championships, United Kingdom Grass 1R 4–6, 6–2, 6–4 123

Junior Grand Slam finals

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Doubles: 1 (runner-up)

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Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponent Score
Loss 2018 Australian Open Hard   Violet Apisah   Liang En-shuo
  Wang Xinyu
6–7(4–7), 6–4, [5–10]

References

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  1. ^ a b "ASB Classic star Lulu Sun confirms switch from Switzerland to New Zealand". 14 March 2024. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Lulu Sun's announcement on her Instagram".
  3. ^ "Lulu Sun on her switch to New Zealand, Te Anau memories, Olympic dreams and French Open hopes". 17 May 2024. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Six things to know about Lulu Sun after her Wimbledon upset of Zheng". 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Phenomena Radovcic Overview". Women's Tennis Association - Official Website.
  6. ^ "Teen tennis prospect Lulu Sun sends signal on sticking with New Zealand". www.stuff.co.nz. 8 July 2018.
  7. ^ "Lulu Sun - Women's Tennis". University of Texas Athletics.
  8. ^ "Lulu Sun | Player Stats & More – WTA Official". Women's Tennis Association.
  9. ^ "Welcome to the tour: All of 2022's WTA debutantes". WTA Tennis. 6 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  10. ^ "Aussie Open 2024's Slam debuts: Korneeva, Seidel, Starodubtseva and more".
  11. ^ "What next for Lulu Sun and Tennis New Zealand?".
  12. ^ "The inside story of Lulu Sun's switch to New Zealand".
  13. ^ "Sun shines in Florida with biggest title yet at W100 Bonita Springs". 7 May 2024.
  14. ^ "Lulu Sun reaches fourth round at Wimbledon with straight sets win over". 5 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  15. ^ "New Zealand-born, Swiss-raised Lulu Sun shining brighter than ever at Wimbledon". 5 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
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