Sonay Kartal defeats Jelena Ostapenko to reach her first-ever WTA 1000 final against former world No 1 Iga Swiatek or French Open finalist Maja Chwalinska; You can Britain’s Sonay Kartal was forced to dig deep to beat Jelena Ostapenko and secure a spot in her first-ever WTA 1000 final on Saturday. Kartal became only the second British woman, after Johanna Konta (Beijing 2016, Miami 2017, Rome 2019), to reach a WTA 1000 final with a stunning 7-6 (11-9) 7-6 (7-5) victory over Ostapenko. Currently 170th in the WTA rankings, Kartal will break inside the top 50 and become the new British No 1 after becoming the lowest-ranked player to reach the final in Wuhan. The 24-year-old, playing in only her third tournament since returning from a back injury, saved multiple set points to punish Ostapenko, despite the Latvian hitting an astonishing 50 winners in the match.
Since the Tier format’s introduction in 1990, Sonay Kartal has become just the second player to defeat five former finalists en route to a Tier I/WTA-1000 final, after Naomi Osaka (Montreal 2025) Kartal, who made her breakthrough by reaching the fourth round of last year’s Wimbledon, said: “That was one of the toughest matches I’ve played. “I know exactly how she was going to play. At times she’s unplayable, but sometimes you have to ride that wave and mentally this is one of the best performances I’ve had in my career so very proud of that one. “I was dreaming of playing this match before the injury so to be able to come back here in my third event and to achieve this regardless is a huge milestone for me, so I’m going to recover and enjoy every second tomorrow.” After reaching the fourth round of Indian Wells in March, Kartal missed six months with a stress fracture in her back, returning last month at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
Kartal, previously ranked as high as No 44 in the world, reached the third round in Beijing last week. In Wuhan, she has swept past world No 48 Anhelina Kalinina, world No 12 Belinda Bencic, two-time Grand Slam singles finalist Jasmine Paolini, four-time major semi-finalist Svitolina, and now former French Open champion Ostapenko. Kartal missed three of this year’s four Grand Slams, including Wimbledon. Speaking on Sky Sports Tennis, Colin Fleming said: “Her ability to stay in the present got her through.
She kept cool to ultimately outlast Ostapenko, who hit 50 winners past her and still couldn’t win a set. “Just a brilliant achievement and the run doesn’t stop here. She’s playing the tennis of her life and she’s got every chance of getting her hands on the title.” Stream tennis with no contract on NOW and the Sky Sports App. You can watch the WTA Wuhan Open and ATP 1000 Shanghai Masters live on Sky Sports.
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