WELLINGTON: When qualifier Lulu Sun wept after reaching the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, tears were also being shed on the other side of the world at her tennis club in a small rural town in New Zealand.
Sun, ranked 123rd in the world, cried openly on center court following her stunning 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 fourth-round win over Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, after becoming the first New Zealand woman to reach the last eight at Wimbledon.
Sun, 23, was born in the remote town of Te Anau, near the bottom of New Zealand’s South Island.
A small party broke out in the early hours of Monday morning at the local tennis club as her latest Wimbledon triumph unfolded.
Greg Sheppard, president of Te Anau Tennis Club, said he and around 20 members had been glued to the clubhouse television to witness Sun’s victory.
“It was nerve-racking and very exciting,” Sheppard told AFP.
“When she started crying, we had a few tears in the clubhouse too. It was quite emotional.
“We’re fully pumped for her. It’s unbelievable, something we have never had before. It’ll be great to see Lulu when she is next home.”
Sun is the daughter of a Chinese mother and Croatian father.
After living in Te Anau — a town she describes as having “more sheep and deer than people” — Sun moved with her mother to Shanghai before settling in Switzerland.
Until this year, she was playing under the Swiss flag having played college tennis in the United States.
Sheppard said there was immense pride in seeing Sun play so well, so far away.
“I reckon if you dug a hole, you’d probably come out in Wimbledon. We are right on the other side,” he joked.
The draughtsman said he struggled to get any work done on Monday.
“I got home around 7am and charged my phone up, I’d run out of battery twice. My phone has been ringing red hot,” said Sheppard, who anticipates another sleep-interrupted night when Sun plays Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the last eight on Tuesday.
Sun will be bidding to become only the second New Zealand woman to reach the last four at a Grand Slam, after Belinda Cordwell at the 1989 Australian Open.
“Hopefully it will be closer to the start of the night or at the other end, where we can have a cooked breakfast to go with our next match watching,” said Sheppard, who remembers Sun as a 13-year-old winning games against the club’s top men.
Her most recent appearance at the club, which has around 120 members, was an exhibition in 2018 and they will invite Sun to a tournament in December.
“We’ll be hoping she comes along, shows us a trophy or a medal or two,” said Sheppard.
“I don’t know if we’ll get a hit of tennis out of her, it would be quite cool if we did.”
Tears of joy at New Zealand tennis club as Sun shines at Wimbledon
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Tears of joy at New Zealand tennis club as Sun shines at Wimbledon
- A small party broke out in the early hours of Monday morning at the local tennis club as her latest Wimbledon triumph unfolded
Pakistan cruise past Sri Lanka in T20I opener
- Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by six wickets as Shadab Khan takes two wickets, Sahibzada Farhan smashes 50
- Pakistan cricket team will play all their upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 fixtures in Sri Lanka next month
DAMBULLA, Sri Lanka: Pakistan underlined their credentials as serious contenders for the upcoming T20 World Cup with a commanding six-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the opening match of the three-game series in Dambulla on Wednesday.
Touted as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup, which Sri Lanka will co-host with India, the series holds added significance for Pakistan, who will play all their tournament matches on the island owing to political tensions with their nuclear-armed neighbors.
Pakistan ticked most boxes on the night, first bottling Sri Lanka up for a modest 128 and then knocking off the target with 20 deliveries to spare, barely breaking sweat.
The game tilted decisively in Pakistan’s favor early, with Shadab Khan ripping the heart out of the Sri Lankan innings by striking twice in his very first over.
The leg-spinner, returning after shoulder surgery and playing his first match for Pakistan since June last year, marked his comeback with a telling spell.
“When you are coming back from injury it is tough. You have to start from zero but the surface was helping me. We have our eyes on the World Cup. With all our games being played here in Sri Lanka, this is a very good series for us,” player-of-the-match Shadab said.
Abrar Ahmed complemented Shadab neatly, finishing with 3-25, while left-arm quick Salman Mirza bowled with fire, mopping up the tail with figures of 3-18 as Sri Lanka were bowled out with four balls unused.
During the run chase, openers Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan flew out of the blocks, racing to 50 in just 25 balls.
Nuwan Thushara bore the brunt of the assault, conceding 31 runs in his first two overs as Pakistan seized early control.
Farhan anchored the chase with a fluent 51 off 36 balls, peppered with four fours and two sixes — his eighth T20I half-century — as Pakistan cruised home without alarm.
For Sri Lanka, the defeat compounds a turbulent lead-up to the series that saw captain Charith Asalanka axed, chairman of selectors Upul Tharanga shown the door and the coaching staff reshuffled.
With little time to catch their breath, the hosts face a swift rethink ahead of the second match on Friday at the same venue.
“We didn’t get a good start and lost too many wickets. That is an issue we need to address. We recovered well and should have got over 150, but we lost quick wickets,” Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka said.
