Live your dreams! From being a qualifier ranking 123rd in the world to reaching the QF of Wimbledon, what a journey this has been for the Kiwi tennis star, Lulu Sun. Her incredible performance at Wimbledon led to her long leap of 70 spots to become the new number 53 in the women’s singles live ranking. How many of you expected her to make it this far at the Wimbledon? Well, like most of us, American tennis legend, Andy Roddick was left baffled by her incredible performance.

Recently during a conversation with Jon Wertheim, Roddick spoke about how unpredictable the Wimbledon Championships have been this year. He didn’t expect anyone from the qualifiers to make it to the QF here. “To be fair, when we did our draw show, Lulu Sun wasn’t in the draw. Right. So that would have been a tough one to pick. I don’t know that I’ve ever picked anyone out of quallies to make the semis, “said Andy Roddick.

With this incredible run to the QF, Sun has already secured $474,616 in prize money (i.e. 1.5 times more than her entire career earnings of around $300,00) prior to this tournament. Now if he reaches the SF, then she’ll add more to her bag. She is currently the second lowest-ranked woman in almost fifteen years to reach the QF at Wimbledon after Serena Williams (181) in 2018.

Lulu Sun is also the first qualifier to reach the last eight of Wimbledon after Kaia Kanepi in 2010 and seventh in the overall list. Her magical run has drawn the praise of several bigwigs of the tennis world. Serena Williams’ former coach Rick Macci is one of them.

“I am so proud of you” – Serena Williams’ former coach heaps praise on Lulu Sun

According to Rick Macci, Lulu Sun has been his student in the past. Previously when Sun won the NCAA National Championships title in 2021, he stated, “I have had the privilege to work with Lulu Sun since she was 11 years old, and am so proud to announce that she clinched the NCAA National Championship for the University of Texas last night!!!! I am so proud of you.” Now after her magical run at Wimbledon, the renowned coach yet again heaped praise on the 23-year-old.

Macci recalled an incident from the past when she had told her stepfather that Lulu had a grass game which is quite similar to Monica Seles. Even her own coach, Vladimir Platenik said he is really happy to see Lulu Sun’s fairytale run in this tournament. “I was really happy that she qualified actually because it was not easy. And then from there, I think Lulu is flying,” said Platenik. Beating the top players as a qualifier is never an easy job, but he believes Sun has now shown the tennis world that everyone can beat anyone on their day!