Lulu Sun has reached the semifinals of the Monterrey Open in Mexico after she defeated Erika Andreeva 6-4, 6-3 in her quarterfinal this morning.
It is the first time Sun has made it to the semifinals of a WTA tournament and it's expected that the result could help her climb into 48th position in the world rankings. It would be the first time she has made it inside the top 50.
Sun, ranked 57th in the world, climbed up the world rankings off the back of her historic Wimbledon quarterfinal appearance — after entering the tournament as a qualifier.
The Kiwi hit eight aces on Monterrey's centre court as she comfortably beat the Russian in 35C heat.
Sun started well against Andreeva, breaking the Russian's serve in the seventh game of the match to help her claim the first set.
Andreeva received medical attention on her back before the second set and then double-faulted on a break point, allowing Sun a chance to close out the match.
Sun eventually won the quarterfinal off the back of three match points, with the Russian hitting it into the net.
The 23-year-old is set to play either Ekaterina Alexandrova from Russia or China’s Yuan Yue in her semifinal.
The Kiwi is playing the tournament as her last step of preparation heading into the last Grand Slam of the year with the US Open starting next week.
Sun will head to the US Open to face Italian Lucia Bronzetti in the first round. She defeated Bronzetti 7-6, 6-3 in the Cincinatti Masters earlier this month.
If Sun manages to get past the Italian, she is in line to play second seed Aryna Sabalenka. The Belarusian was runner-up at the 2023 US Open after she lost 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to American Coco Gauff.
Sabalenka already has a Grand Slam title this year as she won the Australian Open in January.
Sun is no stranger to beating high ranked opponents as she defeated Qinwen Zheng in the first round match at Wimbledon. Zheng went on to win the women's singles gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
Sun finished the tournament in the round of 32, losing 6-3, 7-5 against Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk. Sun also lost to Kostyuk at the Olympics after she was given a late call up for the women's singles tournament.
It was announced yesterday that Sun would be one of the headline players at the 2025 ASB Classic in Auckland.
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