Sonay Kartal has reached the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open, a WTA 1000 event, in just her third tournament back from injury. The British player will face Jelena Ostapenko on Saturday at 10am for a place in Sunday’s final.
Kartal extended her impressive form by beating fifth seed Elina Svitolina 6-2 2-6 6-4.
Speaking on court, Kartal said: “Despite winning the first set pretty comfortably, I knew what a great fighter she [Svitolina] is, so I knew that until the very last point was played, I was never safe.”
She added: “Super proud of the determination I managed to show in that match, and I just think it was solid composure from me throughout.”
Kartal also reflected on the milestone: “I’m breaking new ground this week. I’ve never reached a semis of a WTA 1000 and like I’ve said I absolutely love playing here and playing on these courts. The atmosphere was amazing today.”
Back From Injury
Kartal, 24, reached the fourth round of Indian Wells in March. She then missed six months with a stress fracture in her back and returned last month at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals. She had previously been ranked as high as No 44 in the world and reached the third round in Beijing last week.
In Wuhan, she has defeated world No 48 Anhelina Kalinina, world No 12 Belinda Bencic, two-time Grand Slam singles finalist Jasmine Paolini and now four-time major semi-finalist Svitolina.
Currently ranked 170th in the WTA rankings, Kartal will return to the top 100 after her latest win, when she moves up to No 87. She also becomes the lowest-ranked player to reach the semi-finals in Wuhan. She missed three of this year’s four Grand Slams, including Wimbledon.
Ostapenko Comes Back
Ostapenko, a former French Open champion, came from 5-2 down in the first set to beat 11th seed Diana Shnaider 7-6 (8-6) 6-1. The Latvian hit 32 winners in the match, taking her total to 138 for the week.
Pundit Previews Semi-Final
Speaking on television, pundit Naomi Broady said: “I don’t think Ostapenko is going to enjoy Kartal’s game style with the amount of balls Sonay is going to put back into play.”
Broady added: “It will be interesting because when Svitolina upped her aggression in that match, Sonay wasn’t all that comfortable in set two, but, of course, it’s Ostapenko’s base game, isn’t it? But Sonay is going to be expecting that. She’s seeing the ball big, so it’s going to be all about keeping the ball out of the strike zone.”
Broady also pointed to a possible physical issue for Ostapenko: “Ostapenko has withdrawn from the doubles here, possibly struggling with the forearm injury, because we saw the physio coming out a couple of rounds ago against Jessica Pegula and she has had it taped since.”
She concluded: “She is not going to enjoy having someone like Kartal down the other end of the court. I think when the pressure is on Ostapenko’s back she doesn’t always perform her best.”
Other Results
American Ann Li, who upset top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the second round, could not cause another shock. Iga Swiatek won 6-4 6-1.
Swiatek will play Maja Chwalinska in an all-Polish derby. Chwalinska beat resurgent Maria Sakkari 6-0 3-6 7-5, and the French Open finalist came out on top.
Jodar Makes History in Shanghai
Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar became the youngest semi-finalist in Shanghai Masters history after beating Casper Ruud. The 20-year-old was a set down but rallied to win 4-6 6-4 6-3. It was the fourth straight match at the ATP Masters 1000 event in which Jodar had come back from losing the first set.
He will face Daniil Medvedev for a place in the final. The former US Open champion beat Tommy Paul 6-3 1-6 6-3.