Sonay Kartal

Last updated

Sonay Kartal
Kartal RGQ23.jpg
Kartal at the 2023 French Open
Country (sports)Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Residence Brighton, England
Born (2001-10-28) 28 October 2001 (age 23)
London, England
Turned pro2019
PlaysRight (two-handed backhand)
Coach Julie Hobbs, Ben & Martin Reeves
Prize money$675,547
Singles
Career record141–45
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 84 (16 December 2024)
Current rankingNo. 90 (27 January 2025)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open 1R (2025)
French Open Q1 (2023)
Wimbledon 3R (2024)
US Open Q3 (2024)
Doubles
Career record8–8
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 559 (30 January 2023)
Grand Slam doubles results
Wimbledon 1R (2022)
Last updated on: 27 January 2025.

Sonay Kartal (born 28 October 2001) is a British tennis player. She has career-high rankings of world No. 84 in singles achieved 16 December 2024 and of No. 559 in doubles. She has won one WTA Tour and 14 ITF singles titles. [1]

Contents

Early life

Kartal was born in Sidcup, London, and lives in Brighton. [2] She is of Turkish descent through her father. [3] She attended Longhill High School. [4]

She began playing tennis at the age of six after watching her older brother play. [5] [6] She currently trains at Pavilion & Avenue Tennis Club in Brighton. [7] Her favourite tennis players are Roger Federer and Kim Clijsters. [8]

Career

2021: Comeback and first ITF Circuit title

Kartal won her first title in November 2021, at the Antalya $15k event, beating Amarissa Toth in the final. [9] This was shortly followed by her second title (and her first on hardcourt) at Monastir $15k, defeating former world No. 40, [10] Ayumi Morita, in the final. [11]

Kartal won the women's title at the UK Pro League with a 6–0, 6–1 win over Freya Christie in the final. [12] [13] [14] She ended 2021 ranked 993.

2022: Ranking rise, WTA & Major & top 200 debuts

She followed up her success in late 2021 early in the 2022 season; winning her third title at the $25k Birmingham event with a three-sets win over compatriot Talia Neilson Gatenby. [15] [16] She won a second consecutive $25k title in Glasgow, beating Czech player Barbora Palicová. [17]

Kartal was part of the BJK Cup team for the qualifying tie in April 2022 when Great Britain faced the Czech team in Prague. However, she was not selected to play any matches. [18]

In May, she won two consecutive singles titles in the third and fourth weeks of the $25k Nottingham events— beating Danielle Lao and Joanna Garland in the finals. [19] [20]

During the grass court season, Kartal received wildcards into the main draws at the Surbiton and Ilkley Trophy, and the Nottingham Open. At Surbiton, she defeated Yuriko Miyazaki in the first round, before falling in the second to top seed Madison Brengle. [21]

She made her WTA Tour debut with a wildcard at Nottingham, where she lost in the first round to Camila Giorgi. [22] [23] At Ilkley, she reached her first semifinal at $100k level— losing in two tiebreakers to compatriot Jodie Burrage. [24]

Kartal was awarded a main draw wildcard at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, where she made her major debut, losing in the first round to lucky loser Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove, 4–6, 6–3, 1–6. [25] [26] [27]

In August, she entered US Open qualifying for the first time, but lost in the first round to Spaniard Marina Bassols Ribera in two tiebreak sets. [28]

Kartal posted a quarterfinal result at the $60k indoor event in Trnava, losing to the second seed Vitalia Diatchenko. [29] The following week at the $60k Trvana 2, she upset third seed Daria Snigur in the first round, but was forced to retire from her second-round match due to injury. [30] However, these performances allowed her to make her top-200 debut. Kartal ended the year ranked No. 198, almost 800 places above her 2021 year-end ranking. [31]

2023–2024: Wimbledon third round, maiden WTA title, top 100

At the 2023 Australian Open, Kartal lost in three sets to 21st seed Elizabeth Mandlik in the first qualifying round. [32] As a wildcard player, Kartal entered the $60k event in Sunderland, England, falling to former top-30 player Mona Barthel in the quarterfinals. [33]

In June 2024, ranked No. 295, she qualified for the first time at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, earning a spot in the main draw, having received wildcards in the previous two editions. [34] She defeated 29th seed Sorana Cirstea [35] and world number 45 Clara Burel. [36] She became the second British woman in the Open Era to reach the third round at this Major as a qualifier, and first since Karen Cross in 1997. [37] She lost her third round match to second seed Coco Gauff, going down in straight sets. [38]

In August, Kartal lifted back-to-back ITF W35 GB Pro Series trophies on hardcourts in Roehampton, England, her fourth and fifth titles at that level in the season. [39] [40]

In September, ranked No. 151, having made it through qualifying, she reached the first WTA Tour quarterfinal in her career at the Jasmin Open in Monastir, Tunisia, upsetting fifth seed Jaqueline Cristian, her third Top 100 win of 2024, [41] [42] and Mai Hontama. [43] Next, she defeated Yuliia Starodubtseva in straight sets, [44] [45] and then Eva Lys in the semifinals by retirement, to reach her maiden WTA Tour final. [46] [47] [48] [49] In the final Kartal defeated Rebecca Šramková in straight sets. As a result of her success she broke into the top 100, raising 55 positions up to a new career-high of world No. 96 in the WTA singles rankings for the first time in her career. [50] [51]

Kartal won her sixth ITF title of the year at the W100 Shrewsbury in October, defeating fellow Briton Heather Watson in the final. [52]

2025: Australian Open debut

Kartal made her Australian Open main-draw debut after securing direct entry thanks to her WTA ranking, but lost in the first round to Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro. [53] [54]

Grand Slam performance timelines

Key
W F SFQF#RRRQ#P#DNQAZ#POGSBNMSNTIPNH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles

Tournament 2022 2023 2024 2025 W–L
Australian Open A Q1 A 1R 0–1
French Open A Q1 A0–0
Wimbledon 1R 1R 3R 2–3
US Open Q1 A Q3 0–0
Win–loss0–10–12–10–12–4

Doubles

Tournament 2022 W–L
Australian Open A0–0
French Open A0–0
Wimbledon 1R 0–1
US Open A0–0
Win–loss0–10–1

WTA Tour finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

Legend
Grand Slam (0–0)
WTA 1000 (0–0)
WTA 500 (0–0)
WTA 250 (1–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–0)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoor (1–0)
Indoor (0–0)
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1–0 Sep 2024 Jasmin Open, TunisiaWTA 250Hard Flag of Slovakia.svg Rebecca Šramková 6–3, 7–5

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 16 (14 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Legend
W100 tournaments (1–0)
W60/75 tournaments (0–1)
W25/35 tournaments (11–0)
W15 tournaments (2–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (12–1)
Clay (2–1)
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–1Oct 2021ITF Antalya, TurkeyW15Clay Flag of Spain.svg Rosa Vicens Mas 1–6, 6–2, 3–6
Win1–1Oct 2021ITF Antalya, TurkeyW15Clay Flag of Hungary.svg Amarissa Tóth 7–5, 7–5
Win2–1Nov 2021ITF Monastir, TunisiaW15Hard Flag of Japan.svg Ayumi Morita 6–1, 6–2
Win3–1Feb 2022ITF Birmingham, United KingdomW25Hard (i) Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Talia Neilson Gatenby5–7, 6–3, 6–2
Win4–1Feb 2022 GB Pro-Series Glasgow, UKW25Hard (i) Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Barbora Palicová 7–6(5), 7–5
Win5–1May 2022ITF Nottingham, UKW25Hard Flag of the United States.svg Danielle Lao 6–1, 6–0
Win6–1May 2022ITF Nottingham, UKW25Hard Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg Joanna Garland 6–3, 6–1
Win7–1Apr 2023ITF Santa Margherita di Pula, ItalyW25ClayFlag placeholder.svg Ekaterina Makarova 3–6, 6–2, 6–1
Win8–1Sept 2023ITF Leiria, PortugalW25HardFlag placeholder.svg Anastasia Zakharova 7–6(5), 1–6, 6–3
Win9–1Jan 2024ITF Loughborough, UKW35Hard (i) Flag of France.svg Manon Leonard6–4, 6–1
Win10–1Apr 2024ITF Nottingham, UKW35Hard Flag of Lithuania.svg Klaudija Bubelytė 6–1, 6–4
Win11–1May 2024ITF Monzón, SpainW35Hard Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Linda Klimovičová 6–1, 6–0
Win12–1Jul 2024ITF Roehampton, United KingdomW35Hard Flag of Germany.svg Nastasja Schunk 7–5, 6–1
Win13–1Aug 2024ITF Roehampton, United KingdomW35Hard Flag of Japan.svg Haruka Kaji 6–3, 6–1
Win14–1 Oct 2024 GB Pro-Series Shrewsbury, United KingdomW100Hard (i) Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Heather Watson 7–5, 4–1 ret.
Loss14–2Oct 2024 Hamburg Ladies Cup, GermanyW75Hard (i) Flag of Germany.svg Mona Barthel 4–6, 6–7(6)

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Sonay Kartal defeated Rebecca Šramková in the final, 6–3, 7–5 to win the singles tennis title at the 2024 Jasmin Open. It was her first WTA Tour title, and she lost only one set en route, in the first round against Jaqueline Cristian.

References

  1. ↑ Mazzoleni, Elisabetta (16 November 2021). "Sonay Kartal stunning run at the UK Pro League". UK Pro League. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  2. ↑ Vincent, Milly (27 June 2022). "Wimbledon's Sonay Kartal's world ranking and tennis playing history - MyLondon". MyLondon. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  3. ↑ Nuri-Nixon, Suzanne (12 July 2018). "Wimbledon never stops surprising". T-VINE. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  4. ↑ "Sonay Kartal". Lawn Tennis Association. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  5. ↑ "Sonay's Sensational Season" (PDF). Tennis Sussex. No. 2. December 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  6. ↑ "Introducing Sonay Kartal..." Lawn Tennis Association. 4 May 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  7. ↑ le Duc, Frank (18 May 2019). "Former British tennis No 1 hosts open day in Hove". Brighton and Hove News. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  8. ↑ Mazzoleni, Elisabetta (11 November 2021). "A conversation with: Sonay Kartal". UK Pro League. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  9. ↑ "ITF Women's World Tennis Tour". International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  10. ↑ "Ayumi Morita | Ranking History | Weekly & Yearly Rankings – WTA Official". Women's Tennis Association.
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  12. ↑ "Sonay Kartal storms to UK Pro League title". Eurosport UK. 14 November 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  13. ↑ "Meet Sonay Kartal, Britain's next tennis star following in Emma Raducanu's footsteps". The Independent. 17 November 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  14. ↑ "Stunning win for Sonay Kartal highlights the importance of UK Pro League". Tennis365.com. 13 November 2021.
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  28. ↑ "WOMEN'S QUAL SINGLES ROUND 1". US Open. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  29. ↑ "W60 TRNAVA". ITF Tennis. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  30. ↑ "W60 TRNAVA". ITF Tennis. 28 January 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
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  32. ↑ "Sonay Kartal vs Elizabeth Mandlik - WQ112 | AO". ausopen.com. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  33. ↑ "W60 Sunderland". www.itftennis.com. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  34. ↑ "Sonay Kartal lands Wimbledon spot but teenager Hannah Klugman misses out". 27 June 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  35. ↑ "Sonay Kartal stuns 29th seed Sorana Cirstea for her first Wimbledon win". The Independent. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  36. ↑ "Sonay delight at Wimbledon as British number nine Kartal stuns Clara Burel". The Independent. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  37. ↑ "Wimbledon 2024: Sonay Kartal continues dream run to reach third round at Wimbledon - LTA". 3 July 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  38. ↑ "American Gauff ends run of British qualifier Kartal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  39. ↑ "Sonay Kartal seals back-to-back titles at the Lexus GB Pro Series Roehampton". Lawn Tennis Association. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  40. ↑ "2024 Monastir; Lys dethrones defending champion Mertens in seesaw Monastir three-setter". 12 September 2024.
  41. ↑ "British qualifier Kartal knocks out No.5 seed Cristian in Monastir opener". WTATennis. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  42. ↑ "WTA roundup: Elise Mertens avoids day of upsets in Tunisia". Reuters. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  43. ↑ "British number four Kartal reaches first WTA quarter-final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  44. ↑ "Britain's Kartal reaches first career WTA semi-final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  45. ↑ "2024 Monastir; British qualifier Kartal advances to first career WTA semifinal". WTATennis. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  46. ↑ @the_LTA (14 September 2024). "Sonay Kartal advances to her first @WTA final in Monastir 👏 Eva Lys retired from the semi-final with Sonay 5-1 up in the first set #BackTheBrits 🇬🇧" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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  48. ↑ "Sonay Kartal reaches first career WTA final after Eva Lys retirement at Jasmin Open". Sky Sports. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  49. ↑ "First-time finalists Sramkova and Kartal to face off for Monastir title". WTATennis. 14 September 2024.
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  51. ↑ "Sonay Kartal wins first career WTA Tour title at Jasmin Open in Tunisia". Sky Sports. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  52. ↑ "Kartal claims crown after Watson retires due to injury". Lawn Tennis Association. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  53. ↑ "Sonay Kartal falls to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro despite second-set fightback". The Independent. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  54. ↑ "Australian Open: British No. 3 Sonay Kartal suffers early exit". ESPN. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
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