British-Turkish tennis player Sonay Kartal has become Britain’s top-ranked women’s singles player for the first time after a remarkable run to the Wuhan Open final, just weeks into her comeback from a serious back injury.
The 24-year-old climbed 121 places to world No.49 in the rankings published on Monday 19 October, overtaking Katie Boulter as British No.1 despite losing Sunday’s final in China.
Kartal had looked on course to claim the biggest title of her career after taking the opening set against Poland’s Maja Chwalinska. However, the French Open runner-up fought back to win 2–6, 6–4, 6–2 in two hours and 43 minutes.
The result capped an extraordinary week for Kartal, who defeated former Olympic champion Belinda Bencic, two-time Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini, world No.6 Elina Svitolina and former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko on her way to the final.
Her semi-final victory was particularly hard-earned: she saved six set points against Ostapenko before prevailing 7–6 (11–9), 7–6 (7–5). Kartal became only the second British woman to reach a WTA 1000 singles final, following Johanna Konta.
Her achievement is all the more striking given the disruption to her season. A stress fracture in her lower back, sustained at Indian Wells in March, kept her out for six months and forced her to miss the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open.
She returned to competition at the Billie Jean King Cup in September, before reaching the third round in Beijing and then the final in Wuhan.
In Sunday’s final, Kartal carried her impressive form into the opening set and broke early in the second to lead 2–0. But Chwalinska gradually turned the match around, using changes of pace, drop shots and lobs to disrupt her opponent’s rhythm. The Pole won the final five games to secure her first WTA Tour title.
Although disappointed, Kartal said “the positives of this week outweigh the result today”, reflecting on a tournament that had transformed her comeback. She also earned over a quarter of a million pounds in prize money from the tournament.
Raised in Brighton and of Turkish heritage through her father, Kartal won her first WTA singles title at the Jasmin Open in Monastir in September 2024. She reached the fourth round at Wimbledon the following year and achieved a career-high ranking of No.44. Her Wuhan performance now puts her within touching distance of that mark again.
Main image, top, of Sonay Kartal against Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in the semi-final of the Wuhan Open, 17 Oct. 2026. Photo © Imaginechina / Sipa USA / Alamy
