Wimbledon: Kiwi Lulu Sun first to play in main draw since 2017

Lulu Sun at the 2024 ASB Classic. Photo / Photosport

Lulu Sun has earned a spot in the main draw at Wimbledon next week.

The 23-year-old from Te Anau defeated Alexandra Eala from the Philippines 7-6 7-5 in the final round of qualifying in Roehampton on Thursday, securing her place in the draw along with the likes of Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka.

In making the tournament, Sun becomes the first New Zealand representative to play in the main draw of singles at a Grand Slam since Marina Erakovic was at Wimbledon in 2017.

Sun had to dig deep against the 19-year-old Eala, who won the US Open Junior Grand Slam in 2022, as both players slugged it out from the baseline.

As Sun punched the air in victory, there were a couple of “Go New Zealand” calls from the crowd.

“It was a tough match, we were both grinding between the rallies in each game,” Sun reflected afterwards.

“She had the head start at 5-2 and then I tried to fight my way back, making good serves, moving her, making her rally.

“It was a solid match from both of us. At the end, during the rallies, I played well and I was the one controlling most of the points. I got pretty good in the tiebreak and I was able to win it.

“At the end of the day, it was a couple of points that made the difference.”

Throughout Sun’s three matches in qualifying she has shown her great mental strength. She never let Miriam Bulgaru settle in her opening match, saved a match point against Gabriela Knutson and then fought back from 5-2 down to take the opening set against Eala.

“She obviously got good momentum in the first two games [of the second set] and it was a tough start,” Sun said of beating Eala

“But she played well and I said, I’ve got to keep going. She’s obviously going to fight, because this is the last round of qualifying, but I kept going, put my head down and fought.”

Eala got a break in the fifth game of the first set and was up 5-2 before Sun held serve.

At 15-40 in the next game, with Eala serving for the set, Sun had a ball wide to her forehand, she nearly fell over getting to it, but just managed to make contact. The ball made it over the net, bounced on the singles line with no pace and a frustrated Eala couldn’t get to it.

Yes, there was a bit of luck involved, but it was a huge point for Sun.

That was part of a four-game winning run from Sun and she was up 40-0 at 6-5 for three set points.

But the next five points went the way of the Filipino, so the set went to a tiebreaker.

This was where Sun’s mental strength stood out, she was up 5-1 at the change of ends. Soon after, on what was her fifth set point, she ripped a huge forehand winner down the line that Eala had no chance of getting to.

The Kiwi was broken in the opening game of the next set, but Eala double-faulted at break point in the fourth game to get the match back on level terms.

The pressure built as the set continued, but it was Eala who showed more signs of succumbing to it. Sun held to love at 5-5, while in the following game, Eala was broken to love, making a forehand unforced error on match point.