photography: Kellie Blizard.
For Lulu Sun, summer means returning to New Zealand to reunite with family, eat fish and lamb, maybe bungy jump, plus compete with her siblings – with a golf club rather than a racket. The Kiwi tennis sensation spent Christmas in her hometown of Te Anau on her grandmother’s farm and she’s now in Auckland to play in one of her favourite tournaments of the year – the ASB Classic. She’s also had a little help getting ready from her ever-competitive siblings.
Lulu, 24, her sister and two brothers are a spirited bunch of talented athletes, so whenever they’re together, some playful rivalry is inevitable. As a kid, she followed her older sister Phenomena Radovcic into tennis, with both turning professional.
Lulu laughs, “My sister and I used to compete about everything. That’s now continued with my brothers, even though there’s an age gap. There’s always going to be competition between us.”
The eldest of Lulu’s two brothers, 18-year-old Ethan Hoffmann is a top junior golfer in the US, who will study and play at Loyola Marymount University in California this year. As a child, he’d watch
his sisters winning tennis tournaments and begged his dad for a trophy. When told he’d have to earn one himself, he chose golf as his path to silverware.
The youngest sibling, Quintin, 13, is also a promising golfer. Their mother Lele divides her time between following Lulu on the World Tennis Association (WTA) Tour and travelling to golf tournaments with her sons.
It’s no surprise then that when the family all comes together, golf is the latest battleground for their friendly contests.
Lulu’s off-court passions
“I don’t go out on the golf course much, just because it takes a while,” admits Lulu.
“But I’ll go to the range and hit some balls with my brothers All four of us have a lot in common and we like to talk about different subjects.”
Music and art are favourite topics. Like Lulu, Ethan is a keen sketcher, but these days, the star tennis player enjoys working with oil pastels in her downtime. She’s also been painting intricate designs on her nails in between tournaments.
Overcoming a challenging season
The past year on court was a rollercoaster for Lulu. The 2024 Wimbledon quarter-finalist struggled with a wrist injury, losing eight of her first nine matches. But she bounced back, capturing her first WTA title at the Jingshan Tennis Open in China and finishing runner-up at the Guangzhou Open to regain her spot inside the world’s top 100 rankings.
“Injuries are something all athletes deal with,” she tells.
“The number-one priority, even before stepping on the court, is to be healthy. Without that, you can’t do anything. “I had everything in 2025 – it wasn’t the greatest start, but I finished on a good note. Now I’m ready for the Australian Swing.”
Preparing for the Australian swing
Lulu is referring to the Down Under tournaments – the ASB Classic followed by the Australian Open, which is Lulu’s favourite of the Grand Slam events.
“Going into tournaments, you prepare and work to your best, but you don’t know what’s going to happen,” she explains.
Lulu copes with this uncertainty by having “a free mindset”.
She confesses, “You’re always going to have expectations and pressure from yourself or people outside. Having that mindset, you still care, but you’re working hard and not over-consuming yourself in results. “You change as a person, every week, every day, every hour – so it’s a work in progress. You’re not always going to be 100% successful with that mindset, but you can try your best.”
Leaning on family and friends
Lulu doesn’t work with a sports psychologist, preferring to talk to her family and close friends when she needs support.
“I choose video calls over text,” she declares.
“It might be my mum, my grandma, my siblings or close friends – depending on what I want to talk about.”
Returning home for the ASB Classic
She loves returning to Auckland for the ASB Classic.
“It’s going to be special,” she enthuses.
“I love the atmosphere and the people, plus it’s so cool we’re really close to the city where I can go to lots of different cafés, restaurants and to the beach. A lot of tournaments aren’t in a big city and you end up in the middle of nowhere.”
Kiwi kai and outdoor adventures
When it comes to Kiwi kai, she enjoys seafood from the Auckland Fish Market and eating lamb, plus the adventurer in Lulu loves getting back into nature. She thrives on “bush bashing” for days through the forest, rafting and bungy jumping – it’s her dream to leap off Auckland’s Harbour Bridge.
“You just don’t have that kind of access to nature anywhere else, especially how vast it is,” she says.
That all helps give Lulu the recharge she needs for her stellar career.
The ASB Classic is on now. For more info and tickets, go to asbclassic.co.nz.
