Headline writer’s dream: Sun has risen to brighten Wimbledon
Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion couldn’t write a better script. The story of an unknown New Zealander who comes from the long white clouds to beat England’s sweetheart on Centre Court.
Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion couldn’t write a better script. The story of an unknown New Zealand tennis player who qualifies for Wimbledon. She attacks like the All Blacks. Has a better game face than Valerie Adams. She comes from the long white clouds to beat England’s sweetheart on Centre Court. Ends.
Lulu Sun is her name. She’s a mystery to British fans, and yours truly, when she arrives at the All England Club. As Russell Crowe would say, she’s 173cm of grunt, playing brave and brilliant grass court tennis to inflict a stunning 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 defeat on Emma Raducanu, the darling of the English game. She belts 52 winners and charges the net with a nerveless, reckless abandon.
She competes with enough fierce and brooding intensity for a haka before bursting into tears and receiving a standing ovation from the London audience she has rendered silent and shocked for most of the afternoon.
“I’m kind of tired,” the world No.132 says. “I can’t really put it into words.”
Sun is a headline writer’s dream – Sun has Risen, Sun sets on Raducanu’s Wimbledon dream, Here Comes the Sun and so forth – but an anomaly in the sport. Rarely if ever do you see a Kiwi flag in the draw at a major, let alone the quarter-finals of Wimbledon. She’s won three qualifying matches at Roehampton just to earn a place in the main draw. For all NZ’s proud sporting history, highlighted by the All Blacks and a rich Olympic tradition, our neighbours have been so inept at tennis you’ve wondered if anyone over the ditch actually owns a racquet.
“I know when I won to get to the round of 16, I was the second player from New Zealand to do it,” Sun says. “So to reach the quarterfinals, it’s a major step because it brings inspiration to all the players in New Zealand. Something to look up to, not just for myself but for the country as a whole, for tennis in New Zealand, to be able to look further.”
Unseeded Kiwi Chris Lewis reached the 1983 Wimbledon final. He was beaten by the wild young thing, John McEnroe, who is now a mild older thing alongside Ash Barty in the BBC commentary booth. Sun is the first Kiwi female to reach the quarter-finals at SW19. She’s a woman of the world. If she’s come from nowhere, she originates from everywhere.
Sun was born in New Zealand to a Croatian father and Chinese mother. She was raised in Switzerland from the age of five and went to college in Austin, Texas. She speaks fluent English, French and Chinese while dividing her time between Florida and Slovakia, homeland of her coach, Vladimir Platenik. She was representing Switzerland until she received so much support at this year’s Auckland Open that she switched her allegiance.
“After deep reflection, it is with great pride that I announce my commitment to represent New Zealand, my birth country, on the international stage,” Sun said in April. “This decision is a truly pivotal moment in my career and a heartfelt tribute to my origin.
“Throughout the years, my deep bond with New Zealand has remained … representing New Zealand is more than a professional choice. It is a tribute to my roots, a celebration of my origin and a commitment to a country that has always been a fundamental part of who I am and who I want to become.”
Now the 23-year-old says: “I’m lucky to have all these backgrounds behind me. From an early age I got to see the world and get to know it through my family. When you have so many cultures behind you, you don’t really 100 per cent fit into one. Sometimes when I was growing up, it was really hard to fit into one specific culture. But now I’ve grabbed different parts of different cultures and they somehow became me. I’m not fighting it. I’m not trying to be a specific culture. All the countries that I have grown up in or have a link to … they will always be within me, in a way.”
Three wins in quallies. Four in the main draw. Seven on the trot. Ten will make her Wimbledon champion. There’s a script.
“I don’t think it’s surprising,” she says. “I wasn’t thinking, ‘Oh, I’m going to be in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.’ After I passed quallies, I was super delighted because the last quallies I played, I lost in the final round in three sets. I was super disappointed. When you’re so close to qualifying, it kind of hurts your heart. Just getting to the main draw was a big step already.”
She adds: “Playing all these players, it’s just opportunity. A new opportunity each time. I’m super grateful to be able to play another match here. I definitely feel the support and I feel the energy from people around the world. I’m super grateful from wherever it’s coming from, from wherever in the world it’s coming from. Just a little support comes a long way. Whether it’s from a random stranger or from someone close to you. I’ll give my all on the next day.”
Poor Raducanu. I feel sorry for her. She’s as likeable as Hermione Grainger. She’s withdrawn from the mixed doubles and promptly been portrayed as a villainess by the crankier sections of the British press for ditching Andy Murray.
Raducanu has done nothing wrong until finding herself on the undesirable side of the scoreboard. “Credit to Lulu,” the Canadian-born Brit says.
“Her tennis was better and she deserved to win. She was very aggressive. She took the ball on. Playing a lefty is challenging. She’s swinging really freely.”
The Sun may be up for a little while yet. She faces unseeded Croatian Donna Vekic in the quarter-finals. The ladies tournament has lost the plot and found intrigue. World No.1 Iga Swiatek? Beaten by Yulia Putintseva. World No.2 Coco Gauff? Beaten by Emma Navarro, the daughter of an American billionaire. World No.3 Aryna Sabalenka? Withdrew because of injury. Elena Rybakina and Jasmine Paolini are the only remaining top-10 players. Ash Barty could win it from the BBC bunker. New contenders are such a breath of fresh air that it’s blowing a gale. Everything’s new under the Sun.
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