Sun out of Wimbledon in 2nd round qualies loss
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
Lulu Sun’s Wimbledon qualifying ended in a second round 7-6(10) 7-6(5) loss to France’s Oceane Dodin, with a delay of over an hour due to an electronic line-calling malfunction.
Sun had a first round qualifying win over Poland's Linda Klimovicova the previous day but couldn't keep up momentum against the former top-40 ranked Frenchwomen.
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Neither Sun nor Dodin were able to get a break of serve in the opening set, and with Sun about to serve at 6-7 in the tiebreak, the umpire hastily stopped play.
Both players remained in their chairs for five minutes, then Sun went over to her team with a towel on her head, to give herself the smallest relief from the sun.
After 15 minutes the players were sent to the locker room and that’s where they remained for the next hour.
Once back on court, Sun’s first job was to save the set point against her, which she did with a kick-serve out wide.
But at 10-11 in the tiebreak, Sun framed a forehand to hand Dodin the opening set.
Sun’s serve was broken in the opening game of the next set and she lost the following game in no time.
It looked like the end of this match could come quickly, but Sun was able to regain her composure.
Getting that break back looked elusive for Sun though as Dodin went up 5-4 40-15 for two match points.
Dodin had some trouble with her service action at that point and Sun played as if she had nothing to lose.
Sun broke and took the match into a second tiebreaker, which once again came down to just one point, this time Sun going long with a backhand from the baseline on match point. Overall Sun had an impressive 23 aces and double faulted just twice.
Sun says she may next play in Europe before heading across the Atlantic for the start of the US swing, but she does feel like her game is going in the right direction.
