A day after Emma Raducanu withdrew from a Wimbledon mixed doubles appearance alongside Andy Murray to focus on her singles campaign, her tournament came to a sudden and surprising end on Centre Court with a fourth-round defeat by a qualifier ranked No 123 in the world.
There were no signs of the right wrist stiffness that Raducanu cited as a reason for pulling out of the mixed doubles, but she struggled to replicate the high level of play that had taken her through to the fourth round. In a tough battle lasting two hours and 50 minutes, she lost 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 to New Zealand’s Lulu Sun, bringing to an end British representation in the singles draws at the All England Club.
Full credit must go to Sun for the way in which she backed herself on the most famous tennis court in the world. The left-handed 23-year-old hit an astonishing total of 52 winners to Raducanu’s 19, showing the confidence she has gained from winning five consecutive matches coming into Sunday’s clash.
Raducanu fell well short, though, of the standards she set last week in blitzing her way through three matches in straight sets. This was her worst defeat by ranking since she retired against Viktoria Hruncakova, then the world No 134, at the Auckland Open in January 2023.
Questions will obviously be raised as to whether Raducanu was distracted during the build-up as a result of the controversy surrounding her decision to deny Murray one last match at Wimbledon before his retirement. Murray’s mother, Judy, had labelled the withdrawal “astonishing” on social media, adding to the furore.
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Regardless, the fact stands that Raducanu has still not claimed four consecutive wins at the same tournament since her ten-match run to the US Open title in 2021. The 21-year-old’s crisp ball striking can pose problems for any opponent when she is at her best but more work is required on her physical and mental endurance.
Raducanu looked completely out of sorts right from the off. She made a poor start on serve in the opening game and was broken with a forehand drop shot by Sun. Minutes later, Raducanu was a double break down at 3-0 after hitting a forehand wide.
Sun handed one of the breaks back with a double fault in the next game but it was one of the few mistakes she made in the first set. A stunning forehand drive volley put her back up a double break at 5-2 and she held serve to end Raducanu’s streak of six consecutive sets won this fortnight.
Raducanu steadied the ship in the second set but still struggled to make the necessary breakthrough. Two opportunities to break at 2-1 were missed, before she then crucially saved two break points on her own serve at 3-3 when the match looked as if it could slip out of her hands.
A potential spark for a turnaround came with Sun serving to stay in the set at 6-5 down. Suddenly she looked a little tight under pressure and Raducanu took full advantage, firing a forehand winner down the line to bring up a set point. When a Sun backhand landed long to take the match to a decider, the Centre Court crowd erupted.
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Raducanu’s momentum came to a swift halt when she slipped during the the third point of the final set. With her left foot skidding across the grass as she came tumbling down, a medical timeout was required for the physio to work on her left ankle, left knee and back.
Understandably, Raducanu looked a little tentative when she returned and subsequently dropped serve to go 1-0 down. By contrast, Sun looked comfortable moving around the court and held serve twice in the next three games to take a 3-1 lead.
Raducanu battled hard but could not get back on top. She gifted a double break to her opponent with a double fault to go 5-2 down and this gave Sun the cushion to go on and serve out the biggest win of her career.
“It was a great match,” Sun said. “I really dug deep to get the win. I really had to fight tooth and nail because she’s obviously going to run for every ball and fight until the end.”
Sun, who had never before appeared in the Wimbledon main draw before this year, has a wily grass-court game that mixes attack with variety. It is inspired by watching Wimbledon champions of the past.
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“I think it was just watching the professionals growing up,” Sun said. “For example, Roger Federer, of course, coming towards the net, and I watched also Steffi Graf versus Martina Navratilova on YouTube. It was just so amazing to watch them. Of course I couldn’t watch them live but I was taking it it all on from the pros, and trying to do that for my game.”
There are positives for Raducanu to take forward. Three wins here has ensured she will return to the world’s top 100 next Monday, with a projected ranking of No 92 securing her direct entry to the US Open without the need for a wild card.
This fourth-round match, though, will go down as a considerable opportunity that has been missed by Raducanu. The draw had opened up through the exits of Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula and, later on Sunday evening, Coco Gauff, with the unseeded Croatian Donna Vekic awaiting in the quarter-finals. Time is on Raducanu’s side, of course, and there will be more chances to come in the future but one suspects that this defeat will take a little more time than usual to get over.
