Lulu Sun returns the ball to Croatia's Donna Vekic during their women's singles quarter-finals tennis match at Wimbledon. Photo: AFP
Lulu Sun's dream run at Wimbledon was ended in the quarter-finals by Croat Donna Vekic under the Court One roof.
Sun beat Britain's Emma Raducanu in the fourth round and was hoping to become the first qualifier to reach the women's semi-finals since 1999 when American Alexandra Stevenson caused a sensation.
However, the world number 123 was beaten 5-7 6-4 6-1 by Vekic who will face Jasmine Paolini or Emma Navarro in the last four.
World number 37 Vekic, at the age of 28, is into her first Grand Slam semi-final.
She set up four break points across the first set but was unable to beat Sun's dogged defence, and then dropped serve at 5-5 as the opener tilted in her opponent's favour.
Vekic broke to go up 5-3 in the second set but briefly lost her confidence, double-faulting three times to hand Sun a break back.
Buoyed by the crowd, Vekic quickly recovered and levelled the match with a sublime drop shot.
She rode her momentum from there, dominating the decider.
Sun, 23, is the first New Zealand woman to reach the quarter-finals at the prestigious British tournament.
Sun, who was born in Te Anau and earlier this year switched allegiance from Switzerland to New Zealand, outplayed Raducanu 6-2 5-7 6-2 in the fourth round on Monday.
She beat China's Zhu Lin on Saturday and won against world number eight Zheng Qinwen in the first round of the women's singles.
In a post-match interview, Sun said the Wimbledon experience had provided a career highlight.
"I mean, even on the first day against Zheng Qinwen, I thought the court was huge and the people were loud," she said.
"I was just, like, super happy to be able to get that experience and play against such a big player, such a great player.
"But then I played on Centre, against Emma. I don't think I could forget that. Definitely not. So I've had really great matches here at Wimbledon.
"I think just energy from New Zealand fans and other fans, as well, is such a surreal moment for me that I definitely won't forget."
Vekic said powerful left-hander Sun was a handful to contain.
"It was a tough match, the first two sets were incredibly high level," Vekic told a media conference.
"She was playing really well and I was struggling a little bit because I couldn't find a way to get through her.
"I knew she was going to come out swinging and I could not find the depth in my shots. That's why I was a little more stressed and tense, but I managed to find my game.
"In the third set I raised my level even more and managed to close it out."
The last time a New Zealander reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon was in 1983, where Chris Lewis went on to lose the final.
- BBC / RNZ
