For years, Joelle Lilly Steur has been considered a German tennis talent who can at least be trusted to make it into the top 200, but the 22-year-old’s career hasn’t really gotten off the ground yet. However, a clear trend is now emerging.
In 2025, Joelle Lilly Steur won her first titles on the ITF tour. She won the final at the small W15 events in Antalya (twice), Getxo and Castellon. In 2026, Steur started regularly in W35 tournaments – and after initial difficulties, is now enjoying clear success.
Last week she reached the final of a W35 tournament in Santa Margherita di Pula for the first time in her career. In the final, the German was clearly defeated by the 21-year-old Italian Samira De Stefano (number 311 in the world rankings), but Steur is back in strong fashion at the same point this week.
After a convincing 6:3-6:1 opening win against the Frenchwoman Eleejah Inisan (number 591 in the world rankings), Steur hardly gave the third-seeded Dutchwoman Anouck Vrancken Peeters (number 318 in the world rankings) a chance on Thursday.
Double quarter-final against Dunja Maric
The German number 537 in the WTA ranking impressed with strong serves and was able to defy her opponent’s perfect breakball yield (4 out of 4). In total, Steur won 64 rallies, 16 more than Vrancken Peeters.
Particularly impressive: Vrancken Peeters only won one point in the last three games.
With Julia Stusek (number 538 in the world rankings) and Mara Guth (number 507 in the world rankings), the two other DTB representatives failed in round one in Santa Margherita di Pula.
In the quarterfinals, Steur goes onto the court as the favorite. The 19-year-old Croatian Dunja Maric, who is currently only number 800 in the world rankings, is waiting there. Exciting: Steur and Maric also met in the quarterfinals in doubles. The German played alongside the Italian Enola Chiesa, Maric played with the French Nina Radovanovic.
Ultimately, Steur/Chiesa clearly won 6:2 and 6:2 in less than an hour. A hint for the quarter-finals in singles?