“The top priority is to stay healthy,” Sun told Newstalk ZB.
Since her fairytale run at the All-England Lawn Tennis Club – going from qualifier to quarter-finalist – Sun kept her momentum going by making a maiden Olympics appearance in Paris, followed by her first WTA final at the Monterrey Open in August.
However, the injury bug caught up with the Te Anau-born athlete, limiting her on-court action since pulling out of her first-round US Open match against Italian Lucia Bronzetti.
It’s led to Sun playing in just one match since Flushing Meadows, after pulling out of tournaments in Wuhan and Hong Kong in October.
“It was an ongoing injury from the US Open and quite frankly, probably from Wimbledon, but I withdrew from those tournaments due to a hip and back injury,” Sun said.
“I recovered well, and I thought I was going to be prepared for Hong Kong, but then I didn’t touch a racquet for a few weeks, so when I came back, my wrist started hurting and I couldn’t hit a forehand.
“We were trying up until the very last day to see if it would get better, but it didn’t, so I had to withdraw from Hong Kong.”
It was a sour way to end her year, but Sun takes comfort in knowing her first tournament back will be on home soil,
This summer will mark Sun’s first ASB Classic since switching her allegiance to New Zealand, having played under the Swiss flag at this year’s tournament.
With the country riding the wave of her breakout 2024 campaign, Sun is looking forward to showing her appreciation of their support in person.
“That’s why I’m excited to come back in December because it’s just super amazing when you receive that support. It really does all the wonders.”
The tournament is also a chance for Sun to demonstrate her growth on court, having been battle-tested at the Grand Slams.
Her dream run at Wimbledon included three qualifying wins, followed by another four victories to reach the quarter-finals – capturing the scalps of Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng and former US Open winner Emma Raducanu along the way.
“In the lower-level tournaments, it’s not the same feeling, it’s not the same experience because you’re playing against top-notch players.
“I really gained a lot of experience in terms of my game and match play and the whole experience of how the system works of playing matches and then having injuries after.”
Being surrounded by world-class Olympians in Paris has also proven to be a worthy experience for Sun.
“To see different sports all come into the same tournament and to be able to see their different training schedules and how they react and why they started their sport, it was cool to experience that.”
Sun knows she can push herself to new heights in 2025, with a maiden WTA tournament win still on her to-do list.
What better place to achieve that feat than to win in Auckland this summer?
“That would be awesome to get a win at the ASB because it’s at home. I’m there playing in front of a home crowd, so it would be amazing.”
