Sun wins tight encounter at Wimbledon qualies
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
New Zealand’s Lulu Sun battled the heat and her Polish opponent for her 7-6(3) 7-5 in just over two houres for victory in the first round of Wimbledon qualifying first round.
Sun, who reached the quarterfinals two years ago is seeded ninth in qualifying and is currently 109 in the rankings defeated the 167th ranked Linda Klimovicova.
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In front of just a handful of people, this time she was on one of the main courts in Roehampton, the venue for Wimbledon qualifying.
Klimovicova saved break points at 3-3 and 4-4 with aces, before Sun took the set into tiebreak with a deft drop shot, running in from the baseline on game point at 5-6.
There was nothing between the two players in the early stages of the shootout, but when serving at 3-4, the Pole played two points in a row where she put the ball into the net.
That gave Sun three set points, but she only needed one, as Klimovicova went too long on a return.
Twenty-five-year-old Sun missed a break point in the second game of the second set, and neither player earned another chance until Klimovicova served to stay in the match at 5-6.
The New Zealander kept the ball deep and moved Klimovicova around with the Polish player determined to fight. It wasn’t until the fourth match point that Sun was able to hit the winner.
Had Klimovicova been able to hold serve, Sun says she was determined not to hand the momentum back to her opponent.
In the second round of qualifying, Sun will play against Oceane Dodin from France, who is ranked 473 in the world, but has been as high as 46.
