Sun shines light on Wimbledon
It is going too far to suggest that New Zealand is in a golden period of tennis, but this year’s Wimbledon is one to get more excited about than usual for Kiwi fans.
For the first time since 2017, there will be a New Zealander in the main draw of singles at a Grand Slam, thanks to Lulu Sun’s switch of allegiances from Switzerland to the country of her birth and then her three wins in qualifying last week.
Then there is the red-hot doubles form of Michael Venus and Erin Routliffe to get excited about, who are both among the favourites to win titles with their respective partners, while Marcus Daniell will be playing at this tournament for the final time in his career.
The doubles won’t start until Wednesday, so the focus for the first part of the week will be on 23-year-old Sun, who plays No 8 seed Zheng Qinwen from China tomorrow.
For most New Zealand tennis fans, their only glimpse of Sun so far was at January’s ASB Classic when she came through qualifying to make it into the second round of the main draw.
Since the Classic, Sun has risen from 219 to 123 in the world rankings, won a US$100,000 tournament in Bonita Springs, Florida, and was the key figure in New Zealand retaining its spot in Asia/Oceania Group I at the Billie Jean King Cup in April.
Sun’s career continues to head in an upward trajectory, showing that Tennis NZ’s decision to back her nationality switch was a smart one, while she herself feels she’s improved as a player since the Classic.
“I’m a more experienced player,” Sun said. “I’m getting a lot of matches this year. In the WTA tournaments I’ve played, I’ve felt the different kind of emotions you have and it helps when you’ve been in that situation before, so you know how to handle it better.”
Routliffe and her Canadian partner, Gabby Dabrowski, who reached the final in Eastbourne at the weekend, are the No 2 seeds and will play Mirra Andreeva and Anastasia Potapova in the opening round.
Routliffe is ranked No 3 in the world and in the form of her life. She recently reached the final of the Italian Open with Coco Gauff and won the WTA tournament in Nottingham.
Although Hsieh Su-Wei and Elise Mertens are seeded higher than Routliffe and Dabrowski, current form suggests that Routliffe and Dabrowski will be the team to beat over the next fortnight.
Venus and Skupski enter Wimbledon on the back of an eight-match winning streak, having claimed titles at Queen’s and Eastbourne over the past two weeks.
Venus only teamed up with Skupski because his usual partner, Jamie Murray was the tournament director for Queen’s, so couldn’t play in the first week of the grass-court season.
But as it’s worked out, it’s been a beneficial switch for Venus as Skupski, 34, is still in the prime of his career, while Murray, 38, is coming towards the end of his.
Venus and Murray are seeded ninth at Wimbledon and in the first round take on the Austrian duo of Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler.
Marcus Daniell will partner 23-year-old Theo Arribage from France for Wimbledon and they’ll square off against Julian Cash from Britain and America’s Robert Galloway in the first round