Longhorn Legend shines brightly across the pond, Lulu Sun in quarterfinals at Wimbledon

On Sunday, yet another former Texas Longhorn star made international headlines as tennis player Lulu Sun defeated Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu in the Round of 16 at Wimbledon.

Sun, who is from New Zealand and was raised in Switzerland before attending the University of Texas, entered the tournament unseeded and ranked No. 123 in the world.

Raducanu, who won the US Open in 2021, looked to make a return to a Grand Slam quarterfinal, and hopefully make a run to the final on her home court.

In the first set, Sun seemed to be running the court and easily took down Raducanu 6-2 but it wouldn’t be a quick match between the two young stars.

Raducanu made a run in the second set that eventually went her way. The two players battled and while Sun earned 45 points throughout the set, her 22 unforced errors paired with Raducanu’s 9 winners led to the Brit evening the sets.

The third set looked much more like the opening of the match with Sun dominating the court as Raducanu struggled to find her swing.

With an incredible 52 winners and four aces, Sun walked away with the victory in three sets, becoming the first Kiwi to reach the quarterfinals in the Open Era (since 1968).

Sun is the first former Longhorn in Texas' program history to qualify for the quarterfinals of any Grand Slam.

In the quarterfinals, Sun will face Croatian star Donna Vekic who is currently ranked No. 37 in the WTA circuit. Vekic defeated Spain’s Paula Badosa to earn her spot in the quarters.

Prior to defeating Raducanu, Sun took down China’s Lin Zhu, Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva, and China’s Qinwen Zheng.

Raducanu will now set her sites on the next Slam of the season, her expected favorite; the US Open.

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