Briton Kartal upsets Bencic at Wuhan Open

Britain’s Sonay Kartal upset ninth seed Belinda Bencic as she continued to build post-injury momentum at the Wuhan Open.

Kartal reached a career-high ranking of 44 last year but has slipped to 170th in the world after a six-month injury absence.

Having returned to action for Great Britain at last month’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals, the 24-year-old reached the third round at the Beijing Open last week before beating Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina in her opening match in Wuhan.

An impressive 6-0 7-5 victory over Swiss world number 12 Bencic sets up a match with Italian 15th seed Jasmine Paolini or 20-year-old Czech Nikola Bartunkova for a quarter-final place.

Former world number one Iga Swiatek also progressed, recording her 40th win of the season with a 6-2 6-1 victory over fellow Pole Magdalena Frech.

Kartal suffered a stress fracture in her back in March, which meant she missed three of this year’s four Grand Slams – including Wimbledon.

The Briton, who reached the fourth round at her home slam last year, was in good form before that enforced break.

That included victories over American top-20 seeds Emma Navarro and Madison Keys at Indian Wells, before she retired against Elena Rybakina in the third round with the back issue.

Kartal has made a positive return, beating Chinese 31st seed Wang Xinyu as she reached the third round in Beijing – and has now won four of her five matches on her return to the WTA Tour.