Texas Longhorns Ex Lulu Sun Falls in Wimbledon Quarter-Finals

Austin is still in Lulu Sun's heart after her historic Wimbledon run.

Jul 9, 2024; London, United Kingdom; Lulu Sun of New Zealand reacts to a point during her match against Donna Vekic of Croatia (not shown) on day nine of The Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports / Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

When former Texas tennis star Lulu Sun was looking at colleges, her mother was adamant she chose to move to Austin. Three years after earning the program a national title, Sun had a historic Wimbledon run.

It was an email from Texas women's tennis head coach Howard Joffe that sparked the interest.

"(My mom) was like 'This is a good school, you have to go, text him back,'" Sun said. "

Having previously played a tournament at Texas Tech, she didn't have the best first impression of the Lone Star state. Her reaction seeing Lubbock was 'Oh my god, there's nothing here.'

But Austin was different.

"I was so in awe of Austin, the city," Sun said. "I was like 'This is a school that's so big and they have everything' and it was really amazing.

Despite falling in love with the city, Sun left Austin after a season to pursue professional tennis.

Ranked No. 123 in the world, Sun made it to one of the biggest tournaments in tennis via qualifiers. She was close to becoming the first qualifier since 1999 to reach the women's semi-finals, but her major tournament triumph ended in the hands of No. 37 Donna Vekic from Croatia.

"In terms of the tennis, we're not that much different, far off, from the top hundred," Sun said of qualifiers to Sky Sports. "It's just that you have to get far in some tournaments, obviously in the big tournaments, to make that jump.

Sun is expected to make the breakthrough into the top-100 after her Wimbledon run.