Lulu Sun stuns seeded Linda Noskova at Indian Wells

Lulu Sun has had her biggest win of the year, defeating No 31 seed Linda Noskova in the second round at Indian Wells.

The New Zealand No 1 beat Noskova 6-1 6-4 on Friday (Saturday NZ time), to advance to the third round of one of the biggest tournaments of the year outside the grand slams.

The 23-year-old Sun has had to dig deep this year as she returns from an injury plagued back half of 2024, but at Indian Wells she’s been able to get back to her best form, to beat the Czech Republic’s Noskova, who defeated her in the final in Monterrey last year.

Sun was able to raise her game in the big moments in the opening set of this match. She only had two break points in it, but converted both of them.

The second set was a tighter battle, but late on, Sun got the only break to confirm her spot in the third round round, making this the first tournament of 2025 where she’s been able to win back-to-back matches.

In the next round Sun will play against Zheng Qinwen from China, who she defeated at last year’s Wimbledon, or the veteran Victoria Azarenka. 

Sun had drifted down to 44 in the world rankings, but her two wins at Indian Wells should move her back inside the top 40 when they are next updated.

Meanwhile, later in the day Erin Routliffe and Gaby Dabrowski won their first round match in the doubles, defeating Leylah Fernandez from Canada and Brazil's Luisa Stefani 5-7 6-3 10-1.