Tennis NZ » Sun is fighting hard in Beijing after a month-long break

Lulu Sun put up a fierce fight in her first singles match in a month, but on Saturday in the second round of the China Open she lost to Ashlyn Krueger from the United States 6-1, 7-6 (4).

Thirty-one days ago, Sun was forced to withdraw after one set from her first-round match against Lucia Bronzetti at the US Open due to a hip injury, and has since been able to compete in the tournament for the first time.

After receiving a bye in the first round in Beijing as the 29th seed, Sun had to face the tricky American Krueger in her first match. Krueger had an impressive win over China’s Wang Yafan in the first round and carried on that form early in the match, and on her return she looked to attack Sun, putting enormous pressure on her left serve.

However, in the second set, Sun found her rhythm and from then on the fight was fierce. Sun had to save two match points by serving at 4-5, which she did.

It also had to make up for a 30-0 deficit two games later, scoring four straight points to send it to overtime.

The match was also close because the score was 4:4, but the 20-year-old American scored another three points and advanced to the third round.

Meanwhile, Great Britain’s Michael Venus and Neal Skupski also lost in Beijing on Saturday, losing the men’s doubles 6-2, 6-7 (4), 10-7 to the Italian duo of Flavio Cobolli and Lorenzo Musetti.

Erin Routliffe is yet to play her first-round women’s doubles match against Canadian Gaby Dąbrowski.

Routliffe and Dąbrowski are the top seeds, but they face a tough draw in the opening round against Wang Xinyu and Hsieh Su-Wei.