'Efficient' Lulu Sun wins first round qualifying match at Wimbledon

Lulu Sun has become the first Kiwi player to win a singles match at Wimbledon in seven years

The 23-year-old defeated Romania’s Miriam Bulgaru 6-2 6-1 in the first round of qualifying in Roehampton on Tuesday, in a match that lasted just 57 minutes. 

It was an impressive performance from Sun as she never allowed Bulgaru to settle, with the Romanian struggling to handle the pace of the Kiwi.

Excluding Sun’s win as a junior in 2018, she was aiming to be the first player representing New Zealand to win a singles match at Wimbledon since Marina Erakovic came through qualifying in 2017, before losing to Simona Halep in the first round of the main draw.

Sun achieved this with a game plan suited to grass, staying aggressive, particularly when returning serves and hitting deep balls into the corner that had Bulgaru struggling to stay in rallies.

In the match’s opening game, Sun punished Bulgaru each time she served to her backhand and this set the tone for the remainder of the match.

Sun broke again in the fifth game for a 4-1 lead, but in the next, despite getting back to deuce after being down 0-40, the Kiwi was broken.

However, a few more huge returns gave Sun another break in the next game and she then held to love for the opening set.

Sun got a break in the first game of the next set, which crushed the spirit of Bulgaru and from there it was a comfortable journey to the finish line for Te Anau’s finest.

“I thought I played very efficiently,” Sun said of the win. 

“I held well in those difficult situations after the break she had on my serve. 

“I was solid on the returns, so I was able to break her as well and overall, in the rallies we had, I was able to get every ball back and it worked in my favour.”

Sun knew there was plenty more work to do after getting a break in the first game of the match, but she said it was good to get that early lead.

“Obviously, you need to continue your performance afterwards and if you get the break early on, just because you get it, it doesn’t mean that the whole match is in your hands,” she said.

“But it does give you the confidence to be able to break, so you can go at it on your service game.”

Sun prepared for Wimbledon by playing two grass court tournaments and although she picked up just one win from those events, she felt it helped her get used to playing on the surface.

“In my last two matches on grass, they were good players and were good matches,” she said of going up against Robin Montgomery and Susan Bandecchi.

“They obviously weren’t the results I wanted, but it was definitely good to get that practice before Wimbledon.”

Sun reached the third round of qualifying at Wimbledon in 2022 when representing Switzerland, so she now has a bit of experience of what the event is like and says it does feel unique to everything else.

“It’s a very historic place and historic tournament,” she said.

“With dressing in white, you definitely feel that it’s a special place to play and you shouldn’t take it for granted.”

In the second round on Wednesday Sun will play against Gabriela Knutson from the Czech Republic, who defeated Romania’s Irina Bara 7-6 6-1 on Tuesday.

Knutson is ranked 231 in the world and as is the case for most of Sun’s matches, this will be the first time they’ll play against each other.