Sun fuels Kiwis with hope
Former Swiss player Lulu Sun can expect to be busy on her debut for New Zealand at the Billie Jean King Cup teams tournament in China this week. World number 169 Sun, who switched allegiance to her country of birth last month, was in the three-woman team to take on South Korea in the opening round of the Asia/Oceania group one tournament due to have been played overnight (NZT).
When her move was ratified, Te Anauborn Sun became the highest-ranked New Zealand singles player since Marina Erakovic seven years ago.
Her decision was finalised while competing at the ASB Classic in January, saying at the time she always cherished her connection to New Zealand, with her grandparents still living in Te Anau.
She reached the second round of the tournament before discussing the process with Tennis New Zealand New Zealand officials.
New Zealand team manager Matt Hair said their hopes of advancing at the sixnation Billie Jean King Cup event in Chansa have been boosted by Sun’s arrival and her workload would be carefully managed.
“It’s great to have Lulu here, she’s 169 in the world and that’s a great bonus for our team to have her playing,” Hair said.
“It’s obviously important to keep Lulu fresh throughout the week. It will come down to the doubles, it’s a day-to-day thing and obviously, we’re looking after the singles [as the priority].”
“But we’re wary to keep her fresh throughout the week for her singles.”
The two leading teams at the weeklong tournament on clay courts in Chansa will be promoted to the Billie Jean King Cup play-offs, earning them a shot at ultimately qualifying for the finals.
Hosts China are strongly favoured to advance, boasting world No 7 Qinwen Zheng and three other players ranked better than 60.
New Zealand are seeded fifth, but the presence of Sun and the world’s fifthranked doubles player, Erin Routliffe, has them poised to mount a competitive campaign.
The three other New Zealand squad members are Paige Hourigan, Monique Barry and Valentina Ivanov, who are all ranked outside the world top 400 in both singles and doubles.
Hair said South Korea, India and Chinese Taipei boasted similar strength to New Zealand and the Kiwis planned to target certain ties in which Sun would play both singles and doubles — alongside Routliffe.
“On any given day, anyone can beat anyone from those teams. So those are the matches that are going to be the tough ones,” Hair said.
“We’re hoping for a decent win against Pacific Oceania and China is a very strong team they’ve got here this year.”