Sonay Kartal’s impressive breakthrough run in Beijing came to a difficult end as she was overpowered by Linda Noskova, who thrashed every last ball and played a stellar match to reach the semi-finals of the China Open with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win.
The defeat ends the most significant tournament of Kartal’s career to date as the 23-year-old Briton showed, with a series of excellent performances, that she has the game to trouble the best players in the world, reaching her first WTA 1000 quarter-final with a superb three-set win over world No 5 Mirra Andreeva, her first victory against a top-10 player.
This matchup represented an opportunity for Kartal to go even further, but the 20-year-old Czech is a well-regarded talent for a reason. The world No 27 demonstrated her devastating shot-making abilities from the beginning, pounding the ball off both wings, forcing herself inside the baseline and confidently closing down the net as she dictated the baseline exchanges.
Even though she conceded a relatively routine opening set, Kartal had not played poorly, but this only underlined her biggest challenge when competing at the highest level. Kartal counterpunched well, making few errors. She showed her resourcefulness with skidding backhand slices and excellent passing shots, and she looked for opportunities to attack with her heavy topspin forehand. However, there is only so much she can do against an in-form and extremely confident opponent who can generate far greater ball speed than her.
Kartal maintained her solid level in the second set and, as Noskova’s form briefly dipped, she was rewarded with an early break. After conceding her opening service game, though, Noskova worked herself into a supreme rhythm. She conceded just two service points for the rest of the set, landing 79% of her first serves and firing down four aces, her confidence behind her serve seeping into the rest of her game as she overwhelmed Kartal in the final stages to reach the biggest match of her young career.
Noskova will be the only non-American in the semi-finals as she awaits a meeting with Jessica Pegula for a place in the final. Coco Gauff and Amanda Anisimova will rekindle their rivalry from the junior circuit in the other semi-final. Despite the defeat, Kartal will leave Beijing having taken several steps forward.
After rising to No 44 in the rankings this year, the points from her maiden WTA title in Monastir last September falling off her ranking had dragged her as low as No 82 last month. With this run, she will rebound to No 60 and leapfrog Francesca Jones and Katie Boulter to become the British No 2.
The effect this result will have on her confidence and how the rest of the tour sees her is even more significant. Considering her diminutive 5ft 4in stature, Kartal will always be vulnerable against powerful ball strikers such as Noskova, who can overwhelm her on a good day, but she is also showing that her opponents have to earn their victories.
Between her excellent athleticism, her angular, heavy forehand, her variation and her composure in difficult moments, Kartal has plenty in her toolbox to disrupt quality opposition, and with a few weeks remaining in the season, her next task is to maintain this momentum until the end.
