Britain’s Sonay Kartal has stormed into the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 Wuhan Open in just her third tournament back from injury. She defeated fifth seed Elina Svitolina 6-2 2-6 6-4 and will face former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko on Saturday, with the winner earning a spot in Sunday’s final.
Kartal continued her impressive form by beating Svitolina, a four-time major semi-finalist. 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.”
“Super proud of the determination I managed to show in that match, and I just think it was solid composure from me throughout,” she added.
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 a long layoff
Kartal, 24, reached the fourth round at Indian Wells in March. She then missed six months with a stress fracture in her back before returning last month at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals. Her previous career-high ranking was No 44 in the world, and she reached the third round in Beijing last week.
In Wuhan, Kartal has swept past world No 48 Anhelina Kalinina, world No 12 Belinda Bencic, two-time Grand Slam singles finalist Jasmine Paolini, and now Svitolina. Currently ranked 170th in the WTA rankings, she will return to the top 100 at No 87 following her latest win. She also becomes the lowest-ranked player to reach the Wuhan semi-finals. Kartal missed three of this year’s four Grand Slams, including Wimbledon.
Ostapenko battles through
Ostapenko recovered 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 the clash
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.”
“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?” Broady added.
“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,” she said.
Broady also noted that Ostapenko has withdrawn from the doubles, possibly because of a forearm injury. “We saw the physio coming out a couple of rounds ago against Jessica Pegula and she has had it taped since,” Broady said.
“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 in Wuhan
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 after Chwalinska, a French Open finalist, beat a resurgent Maria Sakkari 6-0 3-6 7-5.
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 came back after losing the first set. He will face Daniil Medvedev for a place in the final. Former US Open champion Medvedev beat Tommy Paul 6-3 1-6 6-3 to reach that stage.