Sonay Kartal claimed the biggest win of her career by ranking after taking down World No 5 Mirra Andreeva in three sets to reach the quarter-finals of the China Open in Beijing.
Kartal defeated the 18-year-old Andreeva 7-5 2-6 7-5 to secure her first win over a top-10 opponent, a result that will see her move above Katie Boulter in the rankings and become the British No 2 behind Emma Raducanu.
The 23-year-old Kartal is through to her first WTA 1000 quarter-final following runs to the last-16 of Wimbledon and Indian Wells this season and will play the 26th seed Linda Noskova for a place in the semi-finals.
Kartal had defeated Alicia Parks, Daria Kasatkina and Maya Joint to reach the last-16 in Beijing before stunning two-time grand slam semi-finalist and reigning Indian Wells champion Andreeva in a gruelling battle that went the distance.
After being denied on the first match point as Andreeva won a thrilling exchange, Kartal converted her second match point opportunity after two hours and 25 minutes as Andreeva blasted a forehand wide.
“I knew today was going to be far from easy,” Kartal said. “She’s a top-10 player for a very good reason and she made me play my best tennis today, so credit to her. I’m super happy with the level I managed to dig out in the end.”
Kartal said it was important that kept her composure after Andreeva levelled the match by winning a one-sided second set. Kartal saved a break point at 5-5 in the third set before breaking Andreeva to win the match.
“The way I carry myself on the court is one of my biggest assets,” she explained. “You could look down the other end of the court and you wouldn’t know if I was winning or losing.
“I tried to put that second set behind me because she played some great tennis. I tried to level it out in the third set and keep the scoreboard pressure as high as I could.”
Kartal had previously secured wins over Kasatkina, then the World No 16, at Queen’s and Jelena Ostapenko, then the World No 21, in the first round of Wimbledon this summer as she reached a career-high ranking of 44.
She is set to move up 21 places in the live rankings to 60th in the world, with Boulter falling to 61, and with the chance to climb higher if she beats Noskova on Friday to reach the semi-finals.
