Britain's Sonay Kartal has stormed into the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open, a WTA 1000 event, in just her third tournament back from injury. She defeated fifth seed Elina Svitolina 6-2 2-6 6-4, continuing her incredible form in the tournament.
Kartal will take on former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko on Saturday for a spot in Sunday's final. Speaking on court, Kartal said she knew how great a fighter Svitolina is, so she never felt safe until the final point. "Super proud of the determination I managed to show in that match," she said. "I'm breaking new ground this week."
Kartal, 24, missed six months with a stress fracture in her back after reaching the fourth round of Indian Wells in March. Previously ranked as high as No 44 in the world, she has swept past world No 48 Anhelina Kalinina, world No 12 Belinda Bencic, two-time Grand Slam singles finalist Jasmine Paolini, and four-time major semi-finalist Svitolina in Wuhan.
Currently 170th in the WTA rankings, Kartal will break back into the top 100 at No 87 following her latest win, becoming the lowest-ranked player to reach the Wuhan semi-finals. Ostapenko, meanwhile, came from 5-2 down in the first set to defeat 11th seed Diana Shnaider 7-6 (8-6) 6-1.
Source: Sky Sports Champions League · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing