Kiwi qualifier Lulu Sun has scored a shocking victory over Chinese world No.8 Zheng Qinwen in the opening round of women's singles at Wimbledon.
Making her main-draw debut at the grass Grand Slam, 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.
Born at Te Anau, Sun moved to Switzerland as a child, before attending University of Texas and embarking on a professional career. After visiting Auckland for this year's ASB Classic, she opted to switch allegiance back to her nation of birth and qualified for the first round at Melbourne.
She won an ITF Tennis Europe W50 title at Roehampton in Ferbuary, beating Briton Heather Watson in the final, before over coming Aussie Maya Joint for victory at a USTA W100 event in Florida in May.
Sun, 23, had to navigate three rounds of qualifying at Wimbledon, eventually overcoming Filipino Alex Eala to reach the main draw, where Zheng was heavily favoured to progress.
"At the Australian Open, I was wary of being in the main draw and that type of stuff, but as I’d already been in that situation, I didn’t think about playing a seeded player," said Sun. "I just played the ball and what she hit... what her weaknesses were and her strengths."
"I was like, 'OK, anything is possible', but also she's a good player and I'd have to dig deep and fight for every point."
The Kiwi was broken twice in the opening set, but seemed to gain confidence, when she served back-to-back aces to hold serve early in the second and then broke twice to take the set.
In the deciding set, Zheng faltered when serving at 4-5 down, producing two double faults to gift the victory to Sun, who will next face Ukrainian world No. 152 Yuliia Starodubtseva in the second round.
