Sonay Kartal beats world No 6 to continue superb Wuhan Open run

Sonay Kartal continued to break new ground as she reached the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open by defeating world No 6 Elina Svitolina for one of the best victories of her career.

Kartal, playing in just her second WTA tournament since March after six months out with a back injury, triumphed 6-2 2-6 6-4 to continue her stunning run in China.

The 24-year-old has reached the semi-finals of a WTA 1000 tournament for the first time in her career, and has done so while ranked 170 in the world after her injury-disrupted season.

That makes Kartal the lowest-ranked player to reach the Wuhan semi-finals since the tournament began in 2014.

A meeting with former French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko is now booked for the semi-finals on Saturday.

Kartal had already impressed in Wuhan by beating ninth seed Belinda Bencic and former Wimbledon finalist Jasmine Paolini on her run to the quarter-finals.

And she claimed the second top-10 win of her career by overcoming fifth seed Svitolina in a tense final set, seizing victory on her first match point.

Kartal had previously beaten world No 5 Mirra Andreeva at last year’s Beijing Open but had lost her other three previous matches against top-10 opponents.

“Despite winning the first set pretty comfortably I know what a great fighter she is and I knew until the last point was played I was never safe,” Kartal said.

“I’m super proud of the determination I managed to show in that match and I think it was solid composure throughout. I’m breaking new ground this week.”

Kartal had been absent from the tour since Indian Wells in March and was forced to miss this season’s Wimbledon, where she reached the fourth round last year.

Her run to the semi-finals in China means Kartal will now re-enter the world’s top 100 after tumbling down the rankings while she was sidelined with injury.