Emma Raducanu’s comeback to Wimbledon was an emotional journey, but Lulu Sun’s hidden talent has thrown off her opponent when fans least expected it. Bringing fizzing excitement to the game, the New Zealander has cleared her way to reach at least the top 60 now! But the question is, from where did she learn to have unbeatable momentum on-court? Well, the answer lies in her eagerness to learn from the best in tennis, be it Roger Federer or a Steffi Graf vs. Martina Navratilova face-off.

“I played a bit in juniors. And then a couple of pro tournaments but I think just watching professionals, growing up, for example, Federer of course coming towards the net and I watched also on YouTube actually, Steffi Graf vs Navratilova. It was just so amazing to watch them. I mean of course I couldn’t watch them live. But taking it all in from the pros and trying to do that to my game,”  Sun said about her inspirations to a reporter, during an on-court interview after the match.

Sun is not even in the semifinals yet at Wimbledon, but she has already created history by being the second WTA player from her country to qualify for the quarterfinal. She might be far away from winning 8 Wimbledon titles like Federer, but the dramatic energy of a Graff (seven-time Wimbledon champion) vs Navratilova (nine-time Wimbledon champion) face-off was palpable during her fourth-round match against Raducanu. 

However, unlike Navratilova and Graf, who faced each other 18 times in their careers, the 23-year-old player, Sun overpowered Raducanu in their first-ever encounter! As Raducanu herself admitted, “Qualifiers can be dangerous,” Lulu proved it right with her amazing foothold in the match. After all, Sun has high aspirations for the future, capitalizing on her aggressive style on the grass! However, she tries to keep herself grounded, appreciating her opponent’s performance after an incredible 2-hour, 50-minute match.

Sun’s thoughts on a tightly fought match against Raducanu

Sun’s victory by 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 against Raducanu made all tennis fans glued to their seats. After all, the left-hander was not the one to step back at any point, instead her attack-mode shots left Raducanu to run for points. On the other hand, Raducanu’s game, plagued by injuries, was slowly falling apart and she ultimately gave up. Nevertheless, after the match, Sun revealed the amazing fight that Raducanu gave her.

“It was a great match against her. She really dug deep in there to try and get the win from me, I had to fight tooth and nail against her… she was obviously going to run for every ball and fight until the end.” Although Lulu Sun wants to follow in the footsteps of her idols, she is immersed in writing her own remarkable story at Wimbledon this season!