Sonay Kartal Upsets Belinda Bencic at Wuhan Open

Sonay Kartal, representing Great Britain, achieved a notable upset by defeating ninth seed Belinda Bencic with a score of 6-0, 7-5 at the Wuhan Open. This victory is significant for Kartal, who reached a career-high ranking of 44 last year but dropped to 170th following a six-month injury hiatus due to a stress fracture in her back.

Kartal returned to competitive tennis at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals last month and had previously reached the third round at the Beijing Open. Her win over Bencic, a Wimbledon semi-finalist last year, is the second biggest of her career by ranking.

Kartal expressed confidence in her ability to regain her competitive level, stating, “I trusted that I would be able to get my level back.” She is set to face either Italian 15th seed Jasmine Paolini or 20-year-old Czech Nikola Bartunkova in the quarter-finals. Kartal has won four of her five matches since returning to the WTA Tour.