Lulu Sun picks up WTA honour

Tuesday, 10 December 2024, 4:58 pm
Article: RNZ

RNZ Sport

New Zealand tennis player Lulu Sun has been named the WTA Tour's Newcomer of the Year.

The 23-year-old had a breakout season after starting the year ranked outside the top 200.

She finished the year ranked 40 after making a run to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon as a qualifier which included her first ever win over a top ten player.

Sun also made her first ever Tour final in Monterrey.

She was born in Te Anau, raised in Switzerland and attended college in the US.

She switched her allegiance to New Zealand at the beginning of the year and represented New Zealand at the Paris Olympics.

Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka was named Player of the Year.

Sabalenka defended her Australian Open title and also lifted the US Open crown.

New Zealand's Erin Routliffe and her partner Gaby Dabrowski were pipped for the Doubles Team of the Year honour by Italian duo Sara Errani and Jasmine Paulini who won Olympic gold.

The Most Improved Player of the Year went to American Emma Navarro, while Spaniard Paula Badosa came back from a back injury in 2023 to be named Comeback Player of the Year.

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