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Sonay Kartal
British tennis player (born 2001) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Sonay Kartal (born 28 October 2001) is a British tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of world No. 56 in singles, achieved 5 May 2025. She has won one WTA Tour title and 14 ITF titles, all in singles.[1]
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Early life
Kartal was born in Sidcup, London, and lives in Brighton.[2] She is of Turkish descent through her father.[3] She attended Longhill High School.[4]
She began playing tennis at the age of six, after watching her older brother play.[5][6] She currently trains at Pavilion & Avenue Tennis Club in Brighton.[7] Her favourite tennis players are Roger Federer and Kim Clijsters.[8]
Career
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2021: Comeback and first ITF Circuit title
Kartal won her first title in November 2021, at the Antalya 15k event, beating Amarissa Toth in the final.[9] This was shortly followed by her second title (and her first on hardcourt) at Monastir $15k, defeating former world No. 40,[10] Ayumi Morita, in the final.[11]
Kartal won the women's title at the UK Pro League with a 6–0, 6–1 win over Freya Christie in the final.[12][13][14] She ended 2021 ranked 993.
2022: WTA Tour & major & top 200 debuts
She followed up her success in late 2021 early in the 2022 season; winning her third title at the 25k Birmingham event with a three-sets win over compatriot Talia Neilson Gatenby.[15][16] She won a second consecutive 25k title in Glasgow, beating Czech player Barbora Palicová.[17]
Kartal was part of the BJK Cup team for the qualifying tie in April 2022 when Great Britain faced the Czech team in Prague. However, she was not selected to play any matches.[18]
In May, she won two consecutive singles titles in the third and fourth weeks of the 25k Nottingham events— beating Danielle Lao and Joanna Garland in the finals.[19][20]
During the grass-court season, Kartal received wildcards into the main draws at the Surbiton and Ilkley Trophy, and the Nottingham Open. At Surbiton, she defeated Lily Miyazaki in the first round, before falling in the second to top seed Madison Brengle.[21]
She made her WTA Tour debut with a wildcard at Nottingham, where she lost in the first round to Camila Giorgi.[22][23] At Ilkley, she reached her first semifinal at 100k level— losing in two tiebreakers to compatriot Jodie Burrage.[24]
Kartal was awarded a main-draw wildcard at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, where she made her major debut, losing in the first round to lucky loser Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove, in three sets.[25][26][27]
In August, she entered US Open qualifying for the first time, but lost in the first round to Spaniard Marina Bassols Ribera in two tiebreak sets.[28]
Kartal posted a quarterfinal result at the W60 indoor event in Trnava, losing to the second seed Vitalia Diatchenko.[29] The following week at the W60 Trvana 2, she upset third seed Daria Snigur in the first round, but was forced to retire from her second-round match due to injury.[30] However, these performances allowed her to make her top-200 debut. Kartal ended the year ranked No. 198, almost 800 places above her 2021 year-end ranking.[31]
2023–2024: Wimbledon 3rd round, maiden WTA Tour title, top 100
At the 2023 Australian Open, Kartal lost in three sets to 21st seed Elizabeth Mandlik in the first qualifying round.[32] As a wildcard player, Kartal entered the W60 event in Sunderland, England, falling to former top-30 player Mona Barthel in the quarterfinals.[33]
In June 2024, ranked No. 295, she qualified for the first time at the Wimbledon Championships, earning a spot in the main draw, having received wildcards in the previous two editions.[34] She defeated 29th seed Sorana Cirstea[35] and world No. 45, Clara Burel.[36] She became the second British woman in the Open Era to reach the third round at this Major as a qualifier, and first since Karen Cross in 1997.[37] She lost her third round match to second seed Coco Gauff, going down in straight sets.[38]
In August, Kartal lifted back-to-back W35 GB Pro Series trophies on hardcourts in Roehampton, England, her fourth and fifth titles at that level in the season.[39][40]
In September, ranked No. 151, having made it through qualifying, she reached the first WTA Tour quarterfinal in her career at the Jasmin Open in Monastir, Tunisia, upsetting fifth seed Jaqueline Cristian, her third Top 100 win of 2024,[41][42] and Mai Hontama.[43] Next, she defeated Yuliia Starodubtseva in straight sets,[44][45] and then Eva Lys in the semifinals by retirement, to reach her maiden WTA Tour final.[46][47][48][49] In the final, Kartal defeated Rebecca Šramková in straight sets. As a result, she broke into the top 100, raising 55 positions up to a new career-high of world No. 96 in the WTA singles rankings for the first time in her career.[50][51]
Kartal won her sixth ITF title of the year at the W100 in Shrewsbury in October, defeating fellow Briton Heather Watson in the final.[52]
2025: Billie Jean King Cup debut, Indian Wells fourth round
Kartal made her Australian Open main-draw debut, after securing direct entry thanks to her WTA ranking, but lost in the first round to Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro.[53][54] In February, she qualified at the Abu Dhabi Open, losing in the first round to fellow qualifier Katie Volynets in three sets.[55]
In March, she entered the main draw at Indian Wells as a lucky loser, making her WTA 1000 debut, and defeated qualifier Varvara Lepchenko,[56] before overcoming 16th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia to register her maiden win against a top-20 ranked player and to reach the third round of a WTA 1000 tournament for the first time.[57][58] Next she defeated Polina Kudermetova in straight sets,[59][60] before losing to world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round.[61] Despite the defeat, Kartal moved up 20 places in the WTA rankings to a new career-high of 63 on 17 March 2025.[62]
Kartal made her debut for the Great Britain Billie Jean King Cup team against Germany in the 2025 qualifying round held in The Hague,[63] recording a win over Jule Niemeier in the opening singles match.[64] She then defeated Eva Vedder as Great Britain beat the Netherlands to secure a place at the finals.[65]
At the Madrid Open, Kartal overcame Jaqueline Cristian in the first round,[66] before losing her next match to 17th seed Elina Svitolina.[67] She defeated Kimberly Birrell in her opening contest at the Italian Open,[68] but lost to seed 30th seed Linda Nosková in the second round.[69]
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Performance timelines
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | S | B | NMS | NTI | P | NH |
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
Singles
Doubles
WTA Tour finals
Singles: 1 (title)
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ITF Circuit finals
Singles: 16 (14 titles, 2 runner-ups)
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References
External links
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