Lulu Sun signs the first big surprise of Wimbledon 2024. The New Zealander, number 123 in the world, eliminates the finalist of the Australian Open 2024 Qinwen Zheng, seeded number 8. Sun won 46 62 64 and signed her first victory against a Top 50 player in her career. She had never even won a match in the main draw of a Slam, and thus becomes the first New Zealander to advance to a round in a major since Marina Erakovic at Wimbledon in 2016. Yet she had found herself one point from defeat in the second round of qualifying against Gabriela Knutson.
Instead, Slam champions Emma Raducanu and Naomi Osaka advance. The British player, winner of the 2021 US Open, defeated lucky loser Renata Zarazua, who was reinstated in place of the 22nd seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, 76(0) 63. Raducanu thus signed her eighth first-round victory in nine Slams played. In the next round, she will face Belgian Elise Mertens, who defeated Japanese Nao Hibino in three sets.
Osaka returns to winning at Wimbledon after five years, and she does it on the eve of her daughter’s first birthday. In her first participation at the Championships since 2019, the Japanese former world number 1 defeated the French Diane Parry, number 53, 61 16 64 in one hour and 32 minutes.
