Sonay Kartal’s mental strength was evident throughout her magnificent journey to the China Open quarter-finals. In what marked the Briton’s first tennis tournament since her opening round departure at the US Open in August, Kartal achieved her maiden WTA 1000 quarter-final appearance, toppling world No. 5 Mirra Andreeva en route to securing her spot in the last eight.
Nevertheless, her brilliant campaign came to an end on Friday when she fell in straight sets to Linda Noskova, who will now face Jessica Pegula for a place in the final. Despite Kartal’s elimination, the Brighton-born star demonstrated her resilience in Beijing following what had been a gruelling ordeal at Flushing Meadows.
Kartal suffered defeat in her maiden match at the major in August during her US Open debut against Beatriz Haddad Maia, reports Wales Online. Both competitors strangely battled cramp, though despite Kartal’s difficulties, she managed to fight back from dropping the opening set to claim the second.
Yet after experiencing cramping throughout her entire body, she surrendered the deciding set 6-1. Speaking following her defeat, the Brit confessed she found herself in a “dark place” during the encounter as her body failed her. “It stings – it is super tough,” she said.
“I have never lost a match through cramp before ever. Where wasn’t I feeling it? I felt it in my calves, quads, hamstrings and the fingers on the tennis racquet. My body wasn’t letting me do anything. You feel hopeless on the court. You are in such pain you go to a little dark place and try and get through it.
“You feel pretty helpless on the court. My body didn’t let me finish it how I would like to have finished it. I don’t feel like it was a heat thing or a nerve thing. We will have to analyse everything that I eat and drink and see if we can make some changes.”
Kartal also commented on the “rowdy” Brazilian supporters who were present but insisted the boisterous nature of their backing for Maia forms part of tennis. “It is part of the sport,” she declared. “If you don’t like that, I don’t think you are going to last in the sport. You have got to love the fight.”
Following more than a month absent from the sport, Kartal bounced back impressively in Beijing with her four victories in the tournament set to propel her ranking from 81 to 60 globally where she’ll overtake Katie Boulter as the British No. 2, trailing Emma Raducanu.
Her outstanding three-set victory over Andreeva, who has claimed two WTA 1000 titles this season, marked Kartal’s maiden triumph against a top-10 opponent and now represents the greatest achievement of her career, surpassing her Wimbledon success this past summer against former French Open champion, Jelena Ostapenko.