Sonay Kartal reached her first WTA 1000 final in Wuhan on Saturday, overcoming Jelena Ostapenko 7-6 (11-9), 7-6 (7-5). The 24-year-old became only the second British woman to reach a final at this level, following Johanna Konta, who achieved the feat in Beijing in 2016, Miami in 2017 and Rome in 2019. Ranked 170th, Kartal is the lowest-ranked player to reach the Wuhan final; her run will propel her into the world's top 50 and establish her as Britain's No. 1 woman.
The victory demanded repeated recoveries. Kartal overturned a double-break deficit in the opening set and saved two set points in its tie-break. In the second, she recovered another break before saving two further set points while serving at 6-5. Despite producing 50 winners, Ostapenko was unable to claim a set. Kartal described the contest as one of the toughest of her career and expressed particular pride in her mental performance. Her earlier victories included wins over Belinda Bencic, Jasmine Paolini and world No. 6 Elina Svitolina.
The breakthrough comes in only Kartal's third tournament since returning from a stress fracture in her back, which kept her out for six months. Having missed three of this year's four Grand Slams, including Wimbledon, she returned at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals last month. She will now face French Open finalist Maja Chwalinska on Sunday, after the Pole defeated former world No. 1 Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-1.
