Sonay Kartal gave Britain’s massed ranks of singles players a great start to the Wimbledon fortnight by ousting 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko.
Ostapenko, a former semi-finalist back in 2018, defeated Kartal in Eastbourne last week in straight sets but the British number three delighted the sun-baked crowd on Court Three with a 7-5 2-6 6-2 victory.
It is Kartal’s third best win by ranking of her career and her best at a grand slam, with the 23-year-old producing another strong performance at the All England Club after reaching the third round as a qualifier 12 months ago.
1 - Sonay Kartal is the first British player in the Open Era to defeat a former Grand Slam Champion in Wimbledon's Women's Singles First Round. Accomplishment.#Wimbledon #Wimbledon2025 | @Wimbledon @the_LTA @WTA pic.twitter.com/GBWGi56lAO
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) June 30, 2025
Things did not begin well for Kartal, who was quickly 3-0 down and finding little answer to the power hitting of her Latvian opponent.
Ostapenko had three set points at 5-4 after Kartal had retrieved the early break but the British player, ranked 51, held firm and took full advantage of her opponent’s disappointment to make it five games in a row and win the opener.
Ostapenko responded well to level the match but Kartal did not allow the contest to get away from her, breaking serve early in the decider and racing into a 5-0 lead.
Oliver Crawford loses out to Mattia Bellucci in the @Wimbledon first round#BackTheBrits 🇬🇧 | #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/ic8JOeL812
— LTA (@the_LTA) June 30, 2025
Ostapenko’s body language indicated she would be more than happy to get off the court and, although she rallied to win two games, Kartal served out the victory at the second time of asking.
In the second round, Kartal will face Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova, who profited from Ons Jabeur’s retirement.
British wild card Oliver Crawford clinched the opening set on his SW19 debut before suffering a 6-7 (2) 6-3 6-4 6-4 defeat to Italian world number 73 Mattia Bellucci.
