Sun defeats Raducanu to reach Wimbledon last-eight
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Lulu Sun beat Emma Raducanu 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals.
LONDON (AFP) – Lulu Sun became the first New Zealand woman to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Sunday with victory over Emma Raducanu, shattering home hopes of ending a 47-year wait for a British women's champion.
Qualifier Sun, ranked at 123 in the world, triumphed 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 over the 2021 US Open winner.
The 23-year-old left-hander hit 52 winners against Raducanu, who took a medical time-out in the third set to treat problems with her ankle and back.
"It was a great match against Emma. I really dug deep to get the win," said Sun, who had lost the lone Grand Slam match in her career before this Wimbledon.
"I really had to fight tooth and nail because she was obviously going to run for every ball and fight until the end."
Sun will next face Donna Vekic of Croatia as she bids to become only the second New Zealand woman to reach a Grand Slam semi-final after Belinda Cordwell at the 1989 Australian Open.
Before Wimbledon, Sun had not won a grass-court match this year.
"I played a bit on grass in juniors and then a couple of pro tournaments," she said.
"I think just watching the professionals growing up. For example, Roger Federer, of course, coming towards the net, and I watched also Steffi Graf versus Martina Navratilova on YouTube.
"It was just so amazing to watch them. Of course I couldn't watch them live but I was taking it all on from the pros, and trying to do that for my game."
Sun is the daughter of a Chinese mother and Croatian father.
After living in Te Anau on New Zealand's South Island -- a town she describes as having "more sheep and deer than people" -- she moved with her mother to Shanghai before settling in Switzerland.
Until this year, she was playing under the Swiss flag having also played college tennis in the United States.
Her victory on Sunday means she will be a top 60 player at least after Wimbledon while making the last-eight guarantees a minimum of $375,000 in prize money.
