Sonay Kartal (born 28 October 2001) is a British tennis player. She has career-high rankings of world No. 85 in singles achieved 25 November 2024 and of No. 559 in doubles. She has won one WTA Tour and 14 ITF singles titles.[1]
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
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: Ranking rise, WTA & 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]
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]
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 $60k indoor event in Trnava, losing to the second seed Vitalia Diatchenko.[29] The following week at the $60k 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 third round, maiden WTA title, top 100
In June 2024, ranked No. 295, she qualified for the first time at the 2024 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 number 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 ITF 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 of her success 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 Shrewsbury in October, defeating fellow Briton Heather Watson in the final.[52]
Grand Slam performance timelines
Key
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.
