Kiwi tennis sensation Lulu Sun is remaining positive after her dream Wimbledon run ended early this morning, saying she's a "bit tired" but "so grateful for this experience".
Croatia's Donna Vekić beat Sun 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 in a quarterfinal on Court One in London early this morning.
The 23-year-old had made history by beating Britain's Emma Raducanu in the fourth round earlier this week, becoming the first New Zealand woman to make it to the singles quarterfinals in the UK Grand Slam at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
She told 1News after the match: "I'm so grateful for this experience, it's just unbelievable.
"All the matches, and the Centre Court, the crowds, the New Zealand fans here, I'm just super happy to be able to have this experience — and forever have it, yeah."
Asked about the Kiwi support, with New Zealanders waking up early this morning to watch the match, Sun said it "means so much".
"Just seeing all that, to be able to grow tennis in New Zealand, it's just wonderful to have that support."
Sun was born in Southland's Te Anau, where the local tennis club has screened her most recent matches.
"I know Te Anau's not that big of a town, but I'm super happy to get that energy out of everyone," she said.
And Sun's message to New Zealand?
"Thank you guys so much, it's been an amazing couple of weeks for me," Sun said.
"I just feel super grateful to be able to share this with you guys and to grow tennis in New Zealand as well as for future generations.
"I'm just super happy, thank you guys."
'We were both going at it'
Reflecting on this morning's quarterfinal, Sun said it began with a "very competitive" first set.
"We were both going at it, and I had a good opportunity to close it out, and I did," she said.
"Second set as well was close — and then towards the end of the second set, I guess my body just gave out a little bit."
Sun began to suffer cramp as the match drew on and needed treatment from a physio afterwards.
"I started moving slower, so I wasn't able to get as many shots as I was in the first set, which was a bit unfortunate," she said.
And "it didn't help in the third set either", Sun smiled — but she's not taking anything away from Vekić.
"She played well as well, so tops to her and good luck to her in the next match.
"Obviously a little regretful that I wasn't able to perform 100% but I'll take it and learn from it, and keep learning and keep fighting for the next," the rising star said.
'We are all human'
Sun's coach Vladimir Platenik echoed the player's message when he spoke to 1News.
"We are super happy with the result of Lulu," he said. "We wanted to go to the end but it wasn't to happen.
"We are all human, we tried, she fought, and I think she gave everything the last three weeks.
"I see a bright future and if she continues this way, hopefully we will be able to move even further."
He said Sun wasn't feeling very well after winning her fourth round match, and also pointed to the intense mental pressure of the competition on inexperienced players — "but this is not an excuse".
"Donna [Vekić] played well and she was the more experienced player, and yeah, congrats to her."
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