Emma Raducanu’s Wimbledon dream was shattered on Centre Court by New Zealand qualifier Lulu Sun, who is playing in only her second ever Grand Slam.
A worrying medical timeout early in the third set, during which Raducanu was treated for her back and right ankle, caused unrest among the home crowd. However, their support was not enough to pull her over the line. Sun, in tears at the end, won 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
Sun, who will face Donna Vekic in the last eight, hopes to emulate Raducanu and become the second qualifier ever to win a Grand Slam.
“It was a great match against Emma and she really went for it,” Sun said. “I had to fight really hard to beat her, because she’s going to run for every ball. I can’t even describe it right now.”
She added: ‘As I walked out onto Centre Court I thought, “Wow, I’ve never seen this before”. I was taking it all in for the first time and I’m just so excited to be playing on this court in front of you all. It’s such an amazing experience for me.’
Emma Raducanu’s Wimbledon came to a crushing end with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 defeat to Lulu Sun
Raducanu put a bad start behind her and set up a deciding set, but she was the second best
Sun hit 52 winners in a sublime performance as she disrupted the chances of reaching the quarter-finals
While this was the finest moment of Sun’s career, it was a hugely disappointing afternoon for Raducanu, who started the match as the big favourite.
Raducanu started much too slowly, but turned the match around by breaking at 6-5 in the second set to create the deciding set.
But there was immediate unrest in the opening game of the final set when Raducanu slipped on the court during her serve and appeared to injure her right ankle.
She sat up on the field and immediately called for help from the physiotherapist in disturbing scenes, having just turned the momentum of the match in her favor.
Returning from the medical timeout, Raducanu was put through his paces and Sun scored three points in a row to score a decisive break, setting the tone as the Briton was unable to regain the break.
The Brit saved the first match point she faced and even gave herself a chance to break at 5-2. But wasting that chance proved costly as Sun closed out the win for her seventh straight victory in the tournament.
“I think we have to give her time, she’s been through a lot,” the great Billie Jean King said of Raducanu. “But she’s got guts. She’s a performer and I just think we have to give her time.”
Raducanu was all smiles when she appeared on Centre Court just 24 hours after her withdrawal from the mixed doubles event ended Andy Murray’s Wimbledon career. The Briton pulled out to prioritise her singles run after feeling ‘pain’ in her right wrist, sparking an online outcry.
On Saturday she practiced with a strap on her wrist, but when she took on Sun on Sunday, there was no sign of the strap from the day before.
Raducanu started hesitantly, but was quickly punished, being broken in her first two service games and falling behind 3-0.
Raducanu returned to singles action just 24 hours after withdrawing from mixed doubles
There was no band on either wrist as she walked onto Centre Court to face qualifier Lulu Sun
Raducanu was extremely frustrated after losing the opening set of the match 6-2 to Sun
Sun defended himself excellently against the Briton and managed to calm the partisan home crowd
Amidst loud cheers from the crowd, the 21-year-old finally tried to find some peace in the fourth game. With a brilliant cross-court backhand winner, he managed to force a break point.
A double fault from Sun, who is playing the most important match of her career so far, gave Raducanu one of her chances for service back.
But Sun proved herself a formidable competitor without much fuss and after breaking Raducanu again to take a 5-2 lead, she impressively held her nerve to close out the match.
It was vital that Raducanu started the second set strongly and at 30-30 she let out a huge bang as she got the rally – and subsequently the point – under control and eventually held on.
Much has been made of Sun’s composure and she showed it more than adequately here in a match in which she was – perhaps unwisely – completely outnumbered.
Sun regretted a good chance for a break point in the third game of the second set, hitting the ball well over the back line with a routine volley, while Raducanu’s hopeful comeback seemed to fail.
Up 2-1 and with a break point opportunity, Raducanu turned to the Centre Court crowd and nodded as the crowd cheered her on. Her net return that followed forced deuce before a backhand cross-court drop shot gave Sun a timely advantage.
Raducanu made herself heard and was always ready to show off at crucial moments, such as holding off a point in the match when the score was 2-1, but Sun misjudged a forehand.
Raducanu seemed nervous when the match started, but quickly got into her usual rhythm
After a comeback in the second set, a medical timeout caused major concerns for Raducanu
She received attention for her back (pictured), but she was still able to complete the race
After holding all her service games to a 6-5 lead, a forehand winner on deuce followed by an unforced error on Sun’s backhand leveled the match, much to the delight of the delirious home crowd.
The match was announced after a lot of social media fuss over Murray’s mixed doubles cancellation last night.
Raducanu said she had withdrawn due to a sore right wrist. Judy Murray called the young Briton’s decision not to play in the mixed doubles “astonishing”.
But on Sunday morning, Judy Murray appeared to dismiss her criticism of Raducanu and her team and instead directed her anger at Wimbledon organizers.
Raducanu and Andy Murray were scheduled to play the fourth match of the day on Court 1, meaning an 11pm match was not out of the question.
That would have been a terrible preparation for Raducanu for her fourth round match against Lulu Sun, and Judy reacted angrily on X, formerly Twitter, about the scheduling.
Despite criticism over her withdrawal from mixed doubles, she was in good spirits on Sunday
Raducanu (right) felt some pain in her right wrist and her withdrawal cost Andy Murray (left) a final farewell at Wimbledon, after losing earlier in the week in the men’s doubles to his brother
On Sunday morning, Judy Murray called it “sarcasm” before pointing to the schedule
“I’m not sure anyone understands sarcasm these days,” she said in relation to her earlier post about Raducanu’s “astonishing” resignation.
The reality is that, due to the rain that caused chaos in the opening week of the tournament, the All England Club had to prioritise the scheduling of singles matches.
There is pressure to play singles first and then doubles. In addition, one of Murray-Raducanu’s opponents, Marcelo Arevalo, had just finished his men’s doubles match on Saturday morning. So they couldn’t ask him to play two matches in a row.
Another factor that complicated this mixed doubles event was that the organizers, given the huge interest, wanted to hold the tournament on a show court. As a result, the available places were limited.