New Zealand's Lulu Sun has been given a spot in the women's singles draw at the Paris Olympics, following the withdrawal of Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva.
The Wimbledon quarterfinalist will play against No 12 seed Maria Kostyuk from Ukraine in the opening round. The match was scheduled for Saturday (Sunday NZ Time), but bad weather in Paris meant it has been postponed to Sunday (Monday NZT).
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Sun and Erin Routliffe’s first-round women's doubles match against Italy's Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini has also been delayed a day due to the persistent rain.
Sun only expected to play doubles at Roland Garros, as her rise up the rankings to No 55 in the world occurred after the ITF’s entry deadline, which was following the French Open.
However, she has made it into the draw from the alternate list following Putintseva’s exit and the rain delay could help Sun to prepare for her unexpected match against Kostyuk.
“Putintseva arrived in Paris and began active preparations for the Games,” the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation said in a statement.
“But, unfortunately, she felt a sharp pain in her knee during a warm-up before the first match versus Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk. After a medical examination, a decision was taken to withdraw from the match.”
Sun has never played against Kostyuk, but she might be able to get some insight into how she was playing from Routliffe, as the Kiwi and Canadian Gaby Dabrowski defeated Kostyuk and Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3 6-1 in the third round at Wimbledon earlier this month.
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