🎾 WTA Madrid: Lulu Sun vs Varvara Gracheva

🎾 WTA Madrid: Lulu Sun vs Varvara Gracheva – Match Preview

🧠 Form & Context

🇳🇿 Lulu Sun

• Breakthrough to burnout: After an impressive 2024 featuring a Wimbledon quarterfinal and Monterrey final, Sun has struggled to build on that momentum in 2025.
• Early exits: She’s suffered first-round losses in 8 of 10 events this year, highlighting a dip in confidence and form.
• Clay inexperience: Still winless in WTA main draws on clay—enters this match with minimal exposure and comfort on the surface.
• Momentum reset: A win here could serve as a turning point to rebuild belief in her game.

🇫🇷 Varvara Gracheva

• Form struggles: Has not won back-to-back matches since October 2024 (Hong Kong), reflecting a lack of rhythm.
• Ranking slide: Dropped from a career-high No. 39 to outside the top 60 in the live rankings.
• Madrid inconsistencies: Holds a 1–3 record at the Caja Mágica and has struggled with early exits in recent clay events.
• Surface suitability: While not elite on clay, her compact baseline game is generally well-suited to grinding out wins on slower courts.

🔍 Match Breakdown

Both players arrive in Madrid with more questions than answers. Gracheva’s experience and familiarity with clay give her a slight edge, especially if she can keep her error count low and draw Sun into extended rallies.

Lulu Sun will look to take the racquet out of Gracheva’s hands with aggressive play and quick points, but clay isn’t the ideal surface for that strategy—particularly without match confidence. Her first serve and forehand need to click early for her to stay in this match.

This could become a psychological battle more than a tactical one, with both players trying to claw their way back into form. Whichever player steadies herself in crucial service games likely walks away with the win.

🔮 Prediction

Pick: Varvara Gracheva in 3 sets

Sun’s firepower makes her dangerous, but Gracheva’s consistency and clay-court base should help her outlast the Kiwi in a gritty battle.