Emerging Kiwi tennis star Lulu Sun has been named to represent New Zealand in doubles at the Paris Olympic Games a day after her shocking victory over Chinese world No.8 Zheng Qinwen in the opening round of women's singles at Wimbledon.
Sun has been named alongside 2023 US Open doubles champion Erin Routliffe.
Sun, who was born in Te Anau, moved to Florida at a young age and then to Switzerland, representing that country as a junior, before switching her allegiance to her country of birth this year. She debuted for New Zealand at the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup event in China in June.
Making her main-draw debut at Wimbledon, the world No.123 scored the biggest win of her career, overcoming the Australian Open runner-up 4-6 6-2 6-4 in just under two hours.
"It's any athlete's dream to be an Olympian, so I'm super pumped to be able to play with Erin in Paris," said Sun.
Meanwhile, Routliffe, 29, is ranked third in the world in doubles. She finished runner-up in the pre-Wimbledon event at Eastbourne at the weekend and is preparing for her doubles campaign at the premier English tournament, where she is the No.2 seed, with Canadian partner Gaby Dabrowski.
Her breakout season came in 2023 with Dabrowski, highlighted by the pair winning the US Open. She became the first New Zealander to compete in the WTA Finals, where she and Dabrowski reached the semi-final.
Her success has continued in 2024, finishing runner-up at the Miami Open, making the semifinals of the Australian Open and reaching a career-high WTA doubles ranking of No.2.
"It's a lifelong dream of mine to go to the Olympics and represent New Zealand," said Routliffe. "Playing with Lulu is exciting, we've both had good years, I think, so it's really exciting for us."
Tennis New Zealand chief executive Julie Paterson is "thrilled to have a women's doubles combination heading to Paris".
"We have one of the world's best in this form of the game in Erin and, with the international emergence of Lulu this year, the team has a real chance at success."
"The medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games by Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus was one of the biggest highlights for tennis in New Zealand, and it would be incredible if our women's team could emulate that success this time around."
Tokyo men's doubles bronze medalists Venus and Daniell have narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Paris Olympic Games.
The tennis competition at Paris 2024 will begin on July 27.
