Scorelines don’t always tell the whole story, and that was certainly the case with the bagel that Lulu Sun was forced to eat in the first set of her quarter-final match against Stacey Fung in Calgary this morning. I was able to see most of the first four games, including an incredible 20 shot rally, but the thing which again irritated me quite severely was the line calling. A service line judge was added to the side and centre line judges for this round, but Sun lost her second service game entirely because there was no baseline judge to call Fung’s returns of serve out, and the chair umpire didn’t – which cost Sun the game. She had break points after the first two deuces in the next game, but couldn’t convert either, and Fung eventually held serve before breaking Sun for a third time to end the set after 34 minutes.
Sun had to save break points after the first three deuces of her first service game in the second set, but went much quicker when holding to love in her next game. The only break came in the seventh game, when Fung was able to save only the first two of three break points from 0-40. Sun held again before getting three set points at 0-40 in the next game, but Fung reeled off five points in a row to hold serve. That just delayed the inevitable, as Sun held to love to complete the set after 48 minutes.
Sun lost her serve in the second game of the deciding set, having a game point after saving the first break point, but Fung eventually converted her third opportunity to grab the lead. She had three more break points when she took Sun to 0-40 in the sixth game, and another two at 15-40 in the eighth, but Sun was able to save them all. Sun had her own chance to break in the game between those last two, but couldn’t convert the only break point she had in the set. The remaining games all went with serve, Fung eventually completing the victory on her fourth attempt. The final score was 6-0, 4-6, 6-3, and the match lasted for two hours and 15 minutes. Despite the loss, Sun has moved up to 211 in the live rankings, and that should be enough for her to get into qualifying for the Australian Open. She will stay there unless Fung goes on to win the tournament in Calgary, which would push her back one spot.