Sonay Kartal reached the quarter-finals of the Wuhan Open for the first time after defeating two-time grand slam finalist Jasmine Paolini in a commanding performance. The 24-year-old, who missed six months of the season due to a stress fracture in her back, showcased her strong return during the Asian hard-court swing, winning 6-2, 6-0 against the Italian 15th seed.
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Kartal, currently ranked world No. 170, previously defeated Swiss ninth seed Belinda Bencic in straight sets in the second round and had overcome Anhelina Kalinina from the top 50 in the first round. Despite ranking concerns due to her time away from the tour, Kartal is now on the cusp of re-entering the top 100.
This victory marked her second consecutive win over a seeded player, and it equaled her best performance at a WTA 1000 tournament, matching her quarter-final run at the China Open in Beijing last season. After the match, Kartal stated, “From my side it was a pretty flawless performance so I’m very happy with that one.” She is set to compete next against fifth seed Elina Svitolina.
In other quarter-final matches, Maja Chwalinska, a surprise French Open runner-up, defeated 10th seed Iva Jovic 6-4, 6-1, while Diana Shnaider overcame sixth seed Karolina Muchova, a Wimbledon finalist, with a score of 7-5, 6-3.
Additional reporting by PA.