Lulu Sun

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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[citation needed]
PlaysLeft-handed (two-handed backhand)
CollegeTexas
Prize moneyUS$ 280,515
Singles
Career record220–121 (64.5%)
Career titles6 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 128 (20 May 2024)
Current rankingNo. 128 (20 May 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open1R (2024)
French OpenQ2 (2024)
WimbledonQ3 (2022)
Doubles
Career record66–47 (58.4%)
Career titles3 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 219 (6 May 2024)
Current rankingNo. 222 (20 May 2024)
Last updated on: 20 May 2024.

Lulu Sun (formerly known as Lulu Radovcic; born 14 April 2001) is a Swiss tennis player, currently playing for New Zealand. She has a career-high singles ranking by the WTA of 128, achieved on 20 May 2024, and a best doubles ranking of world No. 219, reached on 6 May 2024.

Career[edit]

Juniors[edit]

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.[3]

2022: Professional and WTA Tour debuts[edit]

Before turning pro in 2022, Sun played college tennis at the University of Texas at Austin.[4] In 2021, she competed in the NCAA DI women’s tennis championship for UT Austin, clinching the match and winning the 3rd ever NCAA championship.[citation needed]

She won her first big ITF title at the Saint-Gaudens Open, partnering Fernanda Contreras in doubles.[5]

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.[6]

2024: Major, Masters debuts and first win[edit]

Sun made her major debut at the 2024 Australian Open.[7][8] On her WTA 1000 debut, she recorded her first win at the WTA 1000 level at the 2024 Dubai Tennis 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.[9][1]

In May, Sun won the singles and doubles titles at the W100 Bonita Springs tournament in Florida.[10]

Personal life[edit]

Sun was born in New Zealand, then moved to Switzerland at the age of 5. She attended college in the United States at the University of Texas in Austin, 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.[11]

Grand Slam performance timelines[edit]

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[edit]

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

ITF Circuit finals[edit]

Singles: 11 (6 titles, 5 runner-ups)[edit]

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

Doubles: 9 (3 titles, 6 runner–ups)[edit]

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

Junior Grand Slam finals[edit]

Doubles: 1 (runner-up)[edit]

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

References[edit]

  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. ^ "Teen tennis prospect Lulu Sun sends signal on sticking with New Zealand". www.stuff.co.nz. 8 July 2018.
  4. ^ "Lulu Sun - Women's Tennis". University of Texas Athletics.
  5. ^ "Lulu Sun | Player Stats & More – WTA Official". Women's Tennis Association.
  6. ^ "Welcome to the tour: All of 2022's WTA debutantes". WTA Tennis. 6 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  7. ^ "Aussie Open 2024's Slam debuts: Korneeva, Seidel, Starodubtseva and more".
  8. ^ "What next for Lulu Sun and Tennis New Zealand?".
  9. ^ "The inside story of Lulu Sun's switch to New Zealand".
  10. ^ "Sun shines in Florida with biggest title yet at W100 Bonita Springs". 7 May 2024.
  11. ^ "Phenomena Radovcic Overview". Women's Tennis Association - Official Website.

External links[edit]