Lulu Sun battles hard but exits Wimbledon in first round

Lulu Sun has lost 6-4 6-4 to the Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova in the first round at Wimbledon.

The Kiwi No 1 stayed in the battle throughout the match against Bouzkova, who is one place lower than her at 48 in the world rankings.

But it was a match where Sun wasn’t able to win enough of the big points, despite hitting some incredible winners. 

It was a confident opening game from Sun, losing just one point on her serve, which was a double fault and even though there were no breaks over the first eight games, the Kiwi was looking comfortable.  

But when serving at 4-4 Sun made a couple of unforced errors and it gave Bouzkova the first break point of the match and on it Sun put a low forehand into the net.

Sun tried to be more aggressive when Bouzkova was serving for the set and it started off well as she went up 0-30. However, Bouzkova went on a roll to win the next four points.

Sun stuck with her game plan and got a break in the second game of the next set.

However, she wasn’t able to consolidate it and was broken again two games later.

Sun kept fighting and had five break points in the following game.

But she wasn’t able to take any of them and Bouzkova eventually sealed the game with a drop shot.

Sun had two more break points when Bouzkova was serving at 3-4, but once again she wasn’t able to snare that big point. 

“Yeah, a lot of chances. I think I was controlling most of the points, and it was just those minor differences, especially in the second set,” Sun said afterwards. 

“In the first set, I only had one chance in that game in the beginning. The rest were pretty straightforward. So it was just down to a couple of points to get that lead in the second set and to finish it.”

When asked if she felt the match might have turned if she had managed to convert one of those break points late in the second set, Sun agreed the momentum could have swung her way. 

“Anything can happen but if you get that early lead, it definitely helps,” she said. 

“And especially towards the end (of a set), if you get that lead, it opens up the gap, and then you’re able to close the set. But unfortunately, it didn’t happen.”

While the match started in 30-degree Celsius heat, Sun said the weather didn’t trouble her too much. “I didn’t have it too bad, because it was towards the end of the day,” she said. 

“At the end, there was this glare from the sunset, but otherwise it was, it was OK. It wasn’t the worst I’ve experienced.”

Sun will now turn her attention to the doubles at Wimbledon. She has teamed up with Canada’s Leylah Fernandez and in the first round they’ll take on the No 6 seeds, Asia Muhammad from the United States and the Netherlands’ Demi Schuurs.