Tennis: Lulu Sun loses to qualifier at Australian Open

Lulu Sun of New Zealand at the Australian Open.
Photo: LUKAS COCH/Photosport

New Zealand’s Lulu Sun was beaten by Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 in the first round 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.

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 New Zealander, 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.

Erin Routliffe and her new doubles partner Asia Muhammad are in action on Wednesday afternoon.

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