Who is Lulu Sun? Top things to know about Wimbledon's breakout star
One match at a time – that is how Lulu Sun has been approaching Wimbeldon 2024.
Before her shock win (6-4, 2-6, 4-6) against eighth-seed Zheng Qinwen, the 23-year-old had never won at a major tennis championship.
Now she is on the brink of a first-ever semi-final after four straight victories guiding her into the last eight, the biggest of which came in the fourth-round when she beat Britain’s Emma Raducanu (6-2, 5-7, 6-2).
“I wasn’t expecting to be here at this stage,” Sun said. “But I’ve just been playing it match by match.”
On the eve of another potential history-making clash, here are the top things to know about Wimbledon’s new breakout star who will represent Nw Zealand at the Paris 2024 Olympics in doubles alongside 2023 US Open doubles champion Erin Routliffe.
Sun beat Emma Raducanu in the fourth round of Wimbledon to book a quarter-final spot.
United Nations of Lulu Sun
New Zealand. People's Republic of China. Switzerland. USA. Slovakia.
Those are just some of the nations that make Lulu Sun who she is.
After being born in a small town in New Zelaand to a Chinese mother and Croatian father, she and her family lived in Shanghai before making the move to Switzerland aged five.
Living in Europe is where she really began to pursue her dream of being a professional tennis player, but securing her future by getting an education took precedence over the last few years.
Moving to the USA, Sun attended the University of Texas where she studied International Relations and Global Studies, before switching her attentions back to her dream.
Now she spends her time between Miami and Slovakia, the latter the base of her coach Vladimir Plantenik.
Oh, and not to mention the German-English influence from her step father!
As a result, the impressive Wimbledon qualifier is trilingual, speaking English, Chinese, and French.
"I think I'm lucky to have all of these backgrounds behind me," she told WTA Tennis.
"From an early age I got to see the world and get to know it through my family.
"Sometimes when I was growing up, it was really hard to fit into once specific culture, but now I've grabbed different parts of different cultures and they somehow became me."
Lulu Sun: Stateside studies
Despite dreamining of becoming a pro tennis player, it was her mother, Lele, that pushed for Sun to secure qualifications in higher education first and foremost.
“She always told us that, yes, sports and whatever you dream of is important, but to get that education is important as well,” she revealed.
When the world came to a standstill as a result of Covid-19, Sun used it as an opportunity to pursue those studies and has since return to committing herself to the sport she loves.
Her worth ethic is commendable, with Sun adding: “Chinese from my mum’s side is very disciplined, hard-working.
“From my dad’s side, Croatian, he’s from the seaside so very laid-back and calm - I guess that’s a good combination.”
But she attributes her feistiness and competitiveness to her mother: “I'm really happy to be able to have so many cultures and backgrounds with me.”
Sun’s hometown: More sheep than people
Nestled on the South Island of New Zealand, with a population of almost 3,000, is the small town of Te Anau.
In the words of Lulu, it is a “very small town (with) practically more sheep and deer than people!”
It is the birthplace of Sun, and currently bursting with pride as their hometown native puts them on the map.
“It’s getting really exciting now,” Greg Sheppard, Te Anau’s Tennis Club president, told Stuff.
“She’s ice cool, isn’t she? I don’t know how she does it. She hits the ball hard and isn’t afraid to come to the net.
“We’re probably the most popular small town in New Zealand right now and possibly even the world!”
Sun's coached by former pro Platenik
Sun is coached by 48-year-old Vladimir Platenik.
The Slovakia native spent six years as a professional player before retiring in 2000, and has previously coached former Australian Open finalist and French Open semi-finalist Dominika Cibulkova.
Now working with Sun, Platenik is focused primarily on helping her gain confidence.
“I don’t want to jinx it but Lulu is fantastic,” he said.
“It is easy to work with her, but also she needed more self-confidence, which was was missing a bit. But it’s coming from her character and for me, it’s important to try build her confidence but not lose the kindness she has.
“I want her to be a complete person, tennis-wise and character-wise.”