Lulu Sun storms back for victory at Indian Wells

Lulu Sun has made an incredible comeback to defeat Rebecca Šramková in the first round at Indian Wells. 

The Kiwi No 1 defeated her Slovakian opponent 6-3 1-6 7-6(2) in the first match of the day on court six, to advance to the second round, where she’ll play Linda Noskova. 

Sun, the world No 49, got off to a great start to the match, getting an early break in the first set and was able to hold onto that lead for the remainder of it.

Šramková, who has a ranking of 37, played better in the second set, taking it comfortably and the European took that momentum into the deciding set, with another early break.

But when Šramková was serving for the match at 5-4, Sun showed great determination and resilience to get the break back and the Kiwi went on to have match points at 6-5.

Although she wasn’t able to convert them, Sun dominated the tiebreak, racing out to a big lead and never gave Šramková an opportunity to get back into it.

It will be an intriguing match up for Sun in the next round, against the tournament’s No 31 seed.

Sun and Noskova played against each other twice last year, with Sun defeating the Czech player in the first round in Cincinnati, but Noskova triumphed when they played each other in the final in Monterrey.

Meanwhile, Erin Routliffe and Gaby Dabrowski, who are the second seeds in the doubles at Indian Wells, have been drawn to play against Leylah Fernandez and Luisa Stefani in the opening round.