NZ's Lulu Sun was forced to retire during her first-round match at the US Open. Photo: AFP
Injury has forced Lulu Sun to withdraw from her debut match at the US Open in New York after just one set.
Sun went into the match on the back of her first finals appearance, having finished runner-up at the Monterrey Open in Mexico at the weekend.
Her world ranking had risen to 41 after her quarter-final appearance at Wimbledon, but she took the court with her left ankle heavily strapped and appeared to struggle with a hip injury as her match against 76th-ranked Italian Lucia Bronzetti wore on.
The games went with serve until the seventh, when Bronzetti broke Sun's serve to go 4-3 up.
After that game, Sun called a time out for medical treatment and there was a further delay when rain halted proceedings for a quarter of an hour.
When play resumed, Bronzetti quickly went 5-3 up with Sun limping around the court at times.
Bronzetti won the next game to take the set 6-3, after which Sun informed the umpire she was retiring due to injury.
-RNZ
