“The qualifiers are dangerous,” Emma Raducanu said before the match. Well, this one proved fatal. Lulu Sun made her Wimbledon debut and became the first woman in 14 years to pass the qualifying rounds and reach the quarter-finals, knocking out the last remaining British contender in the process.
It’s hard for Raducanu to begrudge the New Zealander’s 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 win, as she herself won the U.S. Open title in 2021 from a similarly humble position. It is also difficult to deny that Sun Yang, ranked 123rd in the world, was the better player that day.
After a tumultuous first three games, Raducanu was in for what she predicted would be “a very tough match” here: a grueling grind, a constant battle to hold on to serve. Throughout the match, Raducanu has been on top against her opponents, but here it was Sun Yang who chased her down the field and the English defense wasn’t always up to the task. Sun Yang scored 28 times in front of the net, while Raducanu only scored 7 times, of which she won 21 times.
Like the gods of old, the Sun has firm and powerful arms. Whenever Raducanu attempted a lob, the 23-year-old volleyed the ball back. It felt like Zeus was out there throwing thunderbolts. And their accuracy is also very high – a series of chalk-squirting moves at the end of Raducanu clearly showed how well Sun Yang judged the baseline.
Raducanu kept catching up from behind. She lost break opportunities in the first few games of the first and third sets. She dropped her first point on serve seven times in the first two sets. Her endurance paid off somewhat when she took the second set against all odds. Honors abound for the way she fought to the end, including saving a match point at 5-2 with an audacious cross-court backhand.
The fourth-round exit was a repeat of her best result here two years ago, and there was even a worrying callback when the physiotherapists came on to Raducanu again on Center Court. In 2021, the then 18-year-old retired due to breathing problems during a match against Australian player Aguila Tomljanovic. The concern here was her ankle, which she sprained while sliding to retrieve a forehand at the start of the third set, but the arrival of a physiotherapist freed her to finish the match.
For Raducanu, this appears to be the perfect opportunity to make the biggest improvement in a major since winning the U.S. Open. She’s been the underdog for most of the week: here she’s the favorite. Her opponent was playing in only her second Grand Slam tournament, losing to Italy’s Elisabeth Cociaretto in the first round of this year’s Australian Open. Sun Yang’s victory at Wimbledon was her only grass court experience.
Her appearance has already made history. She grew up in Switzerland and changed her nationality earlier this year. She is the first New Zealand woman to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon and only the third to achieve that feat at a Grand Slam tournament.
As for Raducanu, progress in her biggest match since returning from surgery has been overshadowed by unnecessary noise about her exit from mixed doubles and the final leg of Andy Murray’s Wimbledon farewell tour. But for a 21-year-old girl who spent a year recovering from surgery on both wrists, she took a reasonably cautious approach.
Just as important as Raducanu’s physical recovery was his emotional recovery. Raducanu’s joy at returning to Wimbledon after a long injury break was evident in her previous match against Maria Sakkari. Here she brings excitement to the coin toss, standing in front of the net and bouncing like Tigger. She smiled broadly as the crowd cheered her name before her first serve.
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Instead, Sun Yang got off to a perfect start, winning the first three points on Raducanu’s serve and securing a break on the third try. From the outset, the New Zealander looked ready to contend with the Englishman’s attack, his pace on the delivery making it difficult for Raducanu to counter the left-hander’s angles. She showed some love by breaking Raducanu’s next serve.
A stunning backhand return at 30-30 in the fourth game gave Raducanu the only break point of the first set, and the return of her signature shout showed she knew it was time to fight. But Sun entered the first set with the match’s first two aces and immediately put pressure on Raducanu in the second, then wasted the gift of a break point when she missed an open volley.
That’s not the only nanny Sun misses here. She might have won the match in two sets if not for her two consecutive volleys in the final game of the second set, and the nervous errors piled up as she neared the climax.
Or knock out the British and make it to the last eight in front of a Center Court crowd? Not bad for your first Wimbledon.
