Sonay Kartal claims victory over Elina Svitolina to reach Wuhan Open semi-finals

Sonay Kartal claimed one of the best wins of her career as she sunk world number six Elina Svitolina to reach the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open.

Kartal, playing in only her third tournament since returning from six months out with a back injury, seized her first match point opportunity to complete a hard-hitting 6-2 2-6 6-4 win.

Her win means the 24-year-old, who made her breakthrough by reaching the fourth round of last year’s Wimbledon, advances to the last four of a WTA 1000 event for the first time.

Kartal said: “I definitely did not think that I would find this level this fast. I think it’s a bit of a surprise to me.

“I’ve had my best wins in my third tournament back. I did lose six months on the tour, but I don’t feel like that when I’m playing on the court.

“Now that I’m back, I’m just going to try and maintain this level and try and find my ceiling and see where I can get to in the next year or so.”

Kartal won two matches on her return to the tour at the China Open in Beijing earlier this month and stepped up her eye-catching return with wins over ninth seed Belinda Bencic and former Wimbledon finalist Jasmine Paolini in Wuhan.

She continued her momentum into the opening set against the experienced Svitolina, breaking the Ukrainian in the second game of the match then again to take the set in 33 minutes.

Despite dipping the in second set, Kartal showed no signs of fatigue as she matched Svitolina point for point in a gripping decider, in which break point opportunities were at a premium.

Serving at 5-4 down, Svitolina swept a forehand wide to hand Kartal match point and after Kartal hit a strong return, her opponent looped a backhand beyond the baseline to hand the Briton victory.

Kartal will play Jelena Ostapenko in the semi-finals after Ostapenko outlasted 11th seed Diana Shnaider 7-6 (6) 6-1.

Published: 16/10/2026 by Radio NewsHub