Sonay Kartal triumphs at China Open in WTA return

Sonay Kartal, a 24-year-old British tennis player, returned to the WTA Tour at the China Open after being sidelined for nearly six months due to a lower back injury sustained at Indian Wells in March. She made her comeback at the Billie Jean King Cup on 22 September, where she narrowly lost to Czech world number 26 Marie Bouzkova.

In her first match back in Beijing, Kartal defeated Spain's Andrea Lazaro Garcia with a score of 6-2, 6-3, breaking her opponent's serve five times, aided by four double faults from Lazaro Garcia. Kartal successfully landed 69% of her first serves.

Currently ranked world number 129, she is set to face Chinese 31st seed Wang Xinyu in her next match as she seeks to climb the rankings. Other British players in action included Cameron Norrie, who lost to Alexander Zverev, and Harriet Dart, who won against Yihan Qu.