Sonay Kartal claimed she felt “helpless” and “in a dark place” after she lost her first ever match due to cramping on her US Open debut. The British No.3 battled back to win the second set against No.18 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia. But in a bizarre match, the Brighton-based star felt cramping all over her body and fell 0-4 down in the decider.
The Brazilian then suffered cramp in her left hamstring and lost her next service game to love before recovering to win 6-3 1-6 6-1. At one stage in the final set, both players were struggling to reach and hit the ball. Kartal lost her last Grand Slam match after the Electronic Line Calling failed on Centre Court at Wimbledon This time she went out because her body let her down. “It stings – it is super tough. ” said the world No.51.
“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.”
During the rollercoaster final set, Haddad Maia told Sky Sports’ courtside reporter Laura Robson: “I love this sport.” The Brazilian said later: “I am a person who really likes these tough battles.”
And Kartal, who claimed the “rowdy” Brazilian fans were “pretty nuts at times, said: “It is part of the sport. 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.”
After three British singles wins in the first two days, Katie Boulter suffered the first defeat as she lost 6-4 6-4 to No.27 seed Martha Kostyuk. The British No.2 saved five match points but served eight double faults and admitted she might need to follow Coco Gauff and employ a serve coach.
The American superstar hired sports biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan after sending down 23 double faults in Montreal last month. Boulter, who is set to fall out of the top 50 after only one win in five events since Wimbledon, said: “I need to address the serving.
“I feel like I’ve reached a point now where something needs to change. My team are so great and I think they’d be completely open to having someone come in and help with the serve. I saw Coco brought someone else in. I’d be tempted to do the same if it works.”
Emma Raducanu will play her second round match against Indonesian qualifier Janice Tjen in the first match in the Louis Armstrong Stadium on Wednesday. Qualifier Fran Jones became the third British woman to go out yesterday when she lost 6-0 7-5 to German world No.59 Eva Lys.
