| Lulu Sun | |
| Country: |
|
| Residence: | Geneva, Switzerland |
| Birth Date: | 2001 4, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Te Anau, Southland, New Zealand |
| Height: | 1.73m (05.68feet) |
| Turnedpro: | 2022 |
| Plays: | Left-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Coach: | Vladimír Pláteník[1] |
| College: | Texas |
| Careerprizemoney: | US$ 688,832 |
| Singlestitles: | 0 |
| Highestsinglesranking: | No. 53 (15 July 2024) |
| Currentsinglesranking: | No. 57 (20 August 2024) |
| Australianopenresult: | 1R (2024) |
| Frenchopenresult: | Q2 (2024) |
| Wimbledonresult: | QF (2024) |
| Usopenresult: | 1R (2024) |
| Othertournaments: | yes |
| Olympicsresult: | 1R (2024) |
| Doublestitles: | 0 |
| Highestdoublesranking: | No. 216 (15 July 2024) |
| Currentdoublesranking: | No. 229 (12 August 2024) |
| Othertournamentsdoubles: | yes |
| Olympicsdoublesresult: | 1R (2024) |
| Team: | yes |
| Updated: | 20 August 2024 |
Lulu Sun (born Lulu Radovcic;[2] 14 April 2001) is a New Zealand and Swiss professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking by the WTA of No. 53, achieved on 15 July 2024, and a best doubles ranking of No. 216, reached on 15 July 2024.
Sun was born in Te Anau, New Zealand to a Chinese mother and a Croatian father. Sun briefly lived in Shanghai thereafter.[3] From the age of five she was raised in Geneva, Switzerland, where she completed her school education while still visiting New Zealand to visit family, maintaining her deep bond with New Zealand.
She attended college in the United States at the University of Texas at Austin, graduating with a bachelor's degree in international relations and global studies in 2022[4] and completing her degree in just 3 years.[5]
Sun speaks English, French, and Mandarin Chinese fluently; she expressed interest in learning Korean and Japanese.[6]
She has an older sister, Phenomena Radovčić (born 1998), who played in professional tournaments until 2016.[7]
At the start of her career Sun, at that time playing under the name Lucija Radovčić, represented Croatia from 2011–2013.[8] [9] In 2013 she competed at the Girls G12 European Nations Challenge, playing together with Iva Zelić and Oleksandra Oliynykova.[10] [11]
As a teenager, Sun entered a number of ITF Women's Circuit events, playing as Lulu Radovcic[12] and later changed her last name to Sun, her mother's maiden name.
Sun represented Switzerland as a junior, finishing runner-up with Violet Apisah in the 2018 Australian Open girls' doubles. She 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.[13]
Before turning professional, Sun played one season of college tennis for the Texas Longhorns in 2020–21.[14] She went 15–1 on singles court three and 6–1 on court two. In the final of the 2021 NCAA tournament, Sun won the championship-clinching match for the Longhorns to beat Pepperdine 4–3. Sun partnered Kylie Collins in the team's top doubles spot, going 22–4 in dual matches, and they reached the final of the NCAA doubles tournament but fell to North Carolina's Makenna Jones and Elizabeth Scotty.[15]
In May 2022, she won her first big ITF title at the Saint-Gaudens Open, partnering Fernanda Contreras in doubles.[16] She made her WTA Tour main-draw debut at the Morocco Open two days later, where she received a wildcard into the singles draw.[17]
Sun made her Grand Slam debut at the 2024 Australian Open after qualifying.[18] [19] 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.[20] 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.[21] [22] In May, Sun won the singles and doubles titles at the W100 Bonita Springs tournament in Florida.[23] 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.[24] It was her first top 10 win, and also her first completed victory over any player in the top 100.[25] Next, she reached the third round with a win over fellow qualifier Yulia Starodubtseva[26] and the fourth with a win over Zhu Lin.[27] 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.[28] [29] She reached her first quarterfinal with a win over Emma Raducanu becoming the first New Zealand woman to ever reach that stage at Wimbledon in the Open Era. She was only the second woman from New Zealand to reach a major quarterfinal, following Belinda Cordwell at the 1989 Australian Open.[30] Her run finally ended in the quarterfinals where she was beaten in three sets by Donna Vekić.[31] [32] She would go on to represent New Zealand at the 2024 Olympics in singles, where she entered as an alternate and in doubles.[33]
Ranked No. 64 she qualified for the 2024 Cincinnati Open making her debut at this WTA 1000.[34]
| Tournament | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | SR | W–L | Win% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | A | A | 1R | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | ||
| French Open | A | A | Q2 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | ||
| Wimbledon | Q3 | A | QF | 0 / 1 | 4–1 | ||
| US Open | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |||
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 4–2 | 0 / 2 | 4–2 |
|
|
| 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 | Rancho Santa Fe Open, US | 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, US | W100 | Clay | Maya Joint | 6–1, 6–3 |
|
|
| 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, US | 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, US | W100 | Clay | Fanny Stollár | Valentini Grammatikopoulou Valeriya Strakhova | 6–4, 7–6(3) |
She has a 1–0 record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10
| Opponent | Rank | Event | Surface | Round | Score | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | ||||||||
| 1. |  Zheng Qinwen | 8 | Wimbledon Championships, UK | Grass | 1R | 4–6, 6–2, 6–4 | 123 | |