Sun set in Australian Open first round

Lulu Sun had opportunites but couldn't capitilse in her first round loss at the Australian Open

New Zealand's Lulu Sun has been beaten by Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 in round one of the  Australian Open in warm conditions on court 13.

It was the first match of the year for Sun who has been trying to recover from a wrist injury. Fruhvirtova had come through qualifying winning three matches.

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Twenty-four-year-old Sun held significant leads in both sets, 3-1 in the first, after breaking her opponents serve in the first game of the match and again 3-1 in the second. 

The left-handed kiwi ranked 86th looked to fight back in the second set after being down 3-5 and held off several match points before winning her own serve and breaking her opponents to level the scores 5-5. 

However Fruhvirtova ranked 132 then broke Sun's serve to go ahead 6-5 and then held her own serve to win the match.

Fellow New Zealander Erin Routliffe and American Asia Muhammad are the sixth seeds in the women's doubles.