Sun serves 13 aces in Monterrey victory

Lulu Sun has won her match in the first round of qualifying at the WTA 500 tournament in Monterrey, Mexico, beating Lea Ma from the United States 6-3 7-6(2).

It took Sun one hour, 40 minutes to defeat the resilient Ma, but it was a match where the Kiwi brought out her attacking game, moving her opponent all round the court and setting herself up for the winning shot. She also served 13 aces over the match.

Ma is ranked 339 in the world and mostly plays on the ITF circuit, but she was able to raise her game against Sun, who reached the final of this tournament last year.

Sun picked up two breaks of serve in the opening set, while she had her serve broken once.

Both players shared a break in the second set, but once the tiebreak began, Sun took her game to another level as she raced out to a 6-1 lead.

Although Ma saved the first match point, she overhit a backhand on the second.

In the final round of qualifying, Sun will play against Diane Parry from France, who is ranked 106 in the world, compared to Sun at 90.

Elsewhere in Mexico, Kiwis Finn Reynold and James Watt have lost in the semifinals at the ATP Challenger in Cancun.

They were defeated 6-4 7-5 by Santiago Gonzalez from Mexico and the Netherlands’ Jean-Julien Rojer.