Colorado University Athletics
Steur Knocks Out Top Seed In Shymkent Open
October 05, 2015 | Tennis
SHYMKENT, KAZAKHSTAN – Former University of Colorado tennis standout Julyette Steur topped the No. 1 seeded player in her first professional main draw at the Shymkent Open, an outdoor clay court tournament with a $10,000 purse in Kazakhstan.
Steur successfully qualified on Sunday, defeating Viktoriya Klimushkina from Russia, 6-4, 6-2 after a bye in the first round of qualifying. Monday she drew the tournament's top seed, Russian Margarita Lazareva, and topped the world's No. 358 ranked player by a similar score of 6-4, 6-2.
“We are excited for Julyette and enjoying following her success from afar," CU coach Nicole Kenneally said. "Julyette has worked extremely hard and is dedicated to her craft and deserves this win along with all the big wins she will have.”
Steur, who called Apeldoorn, Netherlands her home town while at CU, was born in Rothenburg, Germany, and is currently the No. 155-ranked player in Germany.
She graduated from CU at just 19 years of age with a degree in Business last May. She played in another pro tournament in June at the Driekleur Challenger Zeeland in Zeeland, Netherlands. There, she retired in the second set in the first round of qualifying to Melanie Vlak (6-4, 2-0 ret).
Steur racked up 111 victories in her career at CU, climbing into the top 20 in that category. She finished with 61 singles and 50 doubles victories and was an impressive 25-10 at No. 1 singles in her career, also racking up more Pac-12 singles wins than any other player in CU history. She was also a three time ITA Scholar-Athlete.
