Lulu Sun Upsets Top Seed to Reach Semifinals in Jinan

Jinan, China — Lulu Sun has delivered a stunning performance by defeating top seed Anastasia Zakharova to advance to the semifinals of the WTA 125 tournament on Thursday. Sun, a 24-year-old tennis player from New Zealand, won the match 7-6(1), 6-0 in just 89 minutes.

In the first set, Sun broke Zakharova’s serve when the Russian was serving for the set, allowing her to gain crucial momentum. Sun then dominated the tiebreaker, claiming it 7-1. She carried this success into the second set, quickly establishing a 3-0 lead as Zakharova struggled with unforced errors.

On the first match point, Sun delivered a powerful serve down the middle, leading to a long return from Zakharova and sealing the match. This victory marks Sun’s ninth win in her last ten matches and follows her trend of eliminating top seeds in recent tournaments.

As a result of her semifinal appearance, Sun’s world ranking is expected to rise from 124 to about 114, bringing her closer to a spot in the main draw of the Australian Open scheduled for January.

Sun will face either Indonesia’s Janice Tjen or China’s Gao Xinyu in her next match. Should she win the tournament, Sun could break into the top 100 rankings.