Lulu Sun sizzles in Cincinnati

Lulu Sun has won her first round match at the Cincinnati Open, defeating Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic 6-4 6-4.

Ruzic had come through qualifying at the WTA 1000 tournament, so was already familiar with the courts and environment.

However, the Kiwi No 1 was able to come through in a tight match that went for 90 minutes.

Sun broke her opponent’s serve twice in the opening set, while she herself was broken once.

Ruzic had six break points in the second set, but Sun managed to save all of them and went on to claim a straight-set victory.

This is the second WTA 1000 tournament in a row where Sun has made it past the first round.

Her next match is against the 12th seed from Russia, Ekaterina Alexandrova. 

Sun and Alexandrova have played each other twice before and split the wins. Their most recent matchup was in the semifinal at Monterrey last year, when Sun triumphed 7-5 3-6 7-6(6), for one of the most significant wins of her career.

Meanwhile, Monique Barry is into the doubles final in Tweed Heads, Australia at the ITF W15 tournament.

In the semifinals, Barry and her Australian partner Gabriella Da Silva Fick, defeated the Australian duo of Lily Taylor and Belle Thompson 6-2 7-5.