Tears of joy as qualifier Lulu Sun defeats Raducanu to make Wimbledon quarter-finals

New Zealander qualifier Lulu Sun advanced to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon by winning against wildcard Emma Raducanu 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Sunday evening.

“I don’t even have the words right now,” said an emotional Sun on-court after the victory, with the Kiwi crying on court as her family wept tears of joy in the stands.

She becomes the first qualifier to make the women’s quarter-finals since Kaia Kanepi in 2010.

“I really had to fight tooth and nail against her, because she’s obviously going to have to run for every ball and fight until the end.”

Sun showed incredible composure in her Centre Court debut, with the crowd firmly behind her British opponent.

Sun having dream run at Wimbledon

Sun has now won seven matches in a row at Wimbledon – usually, a trophy is being lifted at this stage.

However, the Kiwi came through qualifying, playing three tough matches before beginning her main draw campaign here in London.

The last woman to go from qualifying to lifting a Grand Slam trophy was the woman on the other side of the net on Sunday evening: Raducanu, who did so at the 2021 US Open.

British dreams of one of their own making the quarter-finals this week were crushed by Sun’s composed, aggressive play.

The 23-year-old New Zealander blasted 52 winners across the two hour, 50 minute match – compared to just 19 for Raducanu. While she made 44 unforced errors, Sun ensured that the match was played on her terms.

Both Sun’s cross-court forehand and backhand troubled Raducanu, with the shots being struck with ferocity by the qualifier. Sun also rushed the net far more than her opponent, heading in 28 times at a 82 percent success rate, compared to Raducanu’s seven approaches, of which only three succeeded.

Sun credited Roger Federer as the inspiration for her net game, in what was her first-ever match on Centre Court at Wimbledon.

“While walking through, towards the Centre Court, I was like, ‘Wow, I’ve never seen this!’ I was just walking around, and taking it all in for the first time,” said an awe-struck Sun of her debut on one of the most famous courts in tennis.

“I’m just super happy to be able to play on this court. It’s such an amazing experience for me.”

Sun, ranked No 123, will play Croat Donna Vekic next, with a spot in the Wimbledon semi-finals on the line.

In the previous rounds of The Championships, the New Zealander defeated Chinese Qinwen Zheng, the No 8 seed (4-6, 6-2, 6-4), Ukrainian qualifier Yulia Starodubtseva (4-6, 6-3, 6-2) and Chinese Lin Zhu (7-6 (4), 7-6 (6)).

Raducanu, ranked No 135, won against Mexican lucky loser Renata Zarazua (7-6, 6-3), Belgian Elise Mertens (6-1, 6-2) and Greek Maria Sakkari, the No 9 seed (6-2, 6-3) earlier in the tournament.

London (Grand Slam), other last 16 results (All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, grass, GBP 50.000.000, most recent results first):

• Danielle Collins vs. Barbora Krejcikova
• Yulia Putintseva vs. Jelena Ostapenko
• Elena Rybakina vs. Anna Kalinskaya
• Elina Svitolina vs. Xinyu Wang
• Emma Navarro vs. Coco Gauff
• Jasmine Paolini (7) beat Madison Keys (12): 6-3, 6-7 (6), 5-5 ret.
• Donna Vekic beat Paula Badosa: 6-2, 1-6, 6-4