5 Unknown facts about Lulu Sun, the qualifier who has taken Wimbledon 2024 by storm
Lulu Sun, the qualifier from New Zealand, has caused a flutter by reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon 2024. She will take on Emma Raducanu in the fourth round on Sunday, 7 July.
Sun thus became the first Kiwi woman in 65 years to reach the Round of 16 at Wimbledon. She is ranked 123rd in the world, but her performance has made the world take notice. She has already beaten eighth seed Qinwen Zheng of China in the first round.
In this article, we will take a look at five relatively unknown facts about the 23-year-old:
#5. Lulu Sun has dual nationality:
Sun was born Lulu Radovcic to a Croatian father and Chinese mother in New Zealand. However, she moved to Switzerland as a five-year-old and learned how to play tennis there.
Thus, she holds passports of both New Zealand and Switzerland. However, she is playing at Wimbledon under the flag of New Zealand. She qualified for the ASB Classic in Auckland this year, and conversations surrounding her play and victories alerted tennis officials in New Zealand, who requested her to switch nationalities. Her elder sister, Phenomena, also plays tennis, under the flag of Switzerland.
#4. Sun studied at the University of Texas:
Sun studied at the University of Texas in the United States and played tennis at the junior level while she was studying there. She majored in international relations and global studies.
2024 is Sun's first full year on the WTA Tour and she has already made her presence felt. One hopes that she will be able to make her good start count in the coming years.
#3. Sun speaks three different languages:
As mentioned already, Sun has cross-cultural connections in her heritage which led to her growing up in a culturally diverse environment.
She speaks three languages: English, Chinese, and French. She lives in Geneva, Switzerland, but makes visits to New Zealand. Her grandmother still lives in New Zealand.
#2. Sun played at junior level at Wimbledon as a Kiwi in 2018:
Sun played at the junior level at Wimbledon as a New Zealander in 2018. However, her allegiance was short-lived and she switched to playing for Switzerland soon after.
However, her decision to move back to New Zealand and her subsequent good performances have made her a household name in that country.
#1. Sun is being coached by Vladimir Platenik:
Platenik is currently Sun's coach. The 48-year-old Slovakian has previously coached the likes of Belinda Bencic, Ajla Tomljanovic, and Daria Kasatkina. His experience should prove helpful for Sun.
He and Sun got together only this year. One hopes he will help the Kiwi scale new peaks in tennis in her future tournament play.