Lulu Sun (born Lulu Radovcic; 14 April 2001) is a New Zealand and Swiss tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking by the WTA of world No. 123, achieved on 24 June 2024, and a best doubles ranking of No. 219, reached on 6 May 2024.
Early and personal life
Sun was born in New Zealand, to a Croatian father and a Chinese mother. She was raised in Switzerland from the age of 5, where she completed her school education.
She attended college in the United States at the University of Texas at Austin,[4] graduating in 2022 with a BA in Political Science.[citation needed]
She has an older sister Phenomena Radovcic (born in 1998) who played in professional tournaments until 2016.[5]
Career
Juniors
Sun represented Switzerland as a junior, finishing runner-up with Violet Apisah in the 2018 Australian Open girls' doubles, but also played under the New Zealand flag at junior Wimbledon that year, losing in the second round in singles and the first round in doubles.[6]
2022: Professional and WTA Tour debuts
Before turning pro in 2022,[citation needed] Sun played college tennis at the University of Texas in Austin.[7] In 2021, she competed in the NCAA DI women’s tennis championship for UT Austin, clinching the match and winning the third ever NCAA championship.[citation needed]
In May 2022, she won her first big ITF title at the Saint-Gaudens Open, partnering Fernanda Contreras in doubles.[8]
She made her WTA Tour main-draw debut at the Morocco Open just two days later, where she received a wildcard into the singles draw.[9]
2024: Masters, Major debuts and first top 10 win and third round, top 100
Sun made her Grand Slam debut at the 2024 Australian Open after qualifying.[10][11]
On her WTA 1000 debut, she recorded her first win at that level at the Dubai Championships as a wildcard, following the retirement of Paula Badosa. As a result, she moved to a new career-high singles ranking of No. 151, on 26 February 2024.
In April, Sun played under the New Zealand flag for the first time as part of the team for the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup.[12][1]
In May, Sun won the singles and doubles titles at the W100 Bonita Springs tournament in Florida.[13] She reached the top 125 on 17 June 2024.
She qualified for the 2024 Wimbledon Championships making her debut at this Major and upset eighth seed Zheng Qinwen in the first round. It was her first top 10 win, and also her first completed victory over any player in the top 100.[4] Next, she reached the third round with a win over Yulia Starodubtseva.
Grand Slam performance timelines
Key
W
F
SF
QF
#R
RR
Q#
P#
DNQ
A
Z#
PO
G
S
B
NMS
NTI
P
NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record; .
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.