Sonay Kartal has equalled her furthest run at Wimbledon after a dominant 6-2 6-2 victory over Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria.
Kartal, the British No3, had reached the second round by stunning the 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko on Monday and has now matched her 2024 run by making the third round.
The world No51 needed just an hour and seven minutes to defeat her 111th-ranked opponent Tomova on Court 3 and could go far this year with the draw looking kind to her.
Kartal will play either the world No15 Diana Shnaider or the French qualifier Diane Parry in the third round, and the 31st seed, Ashlyn Krueger, is the highest-ranked player she could meet in the fourth round if she gets there.
Sidcup-born Kartal, 23, last year became the first British female qualifier to reach the third round at Wimbledon since 1997, having previously made first-round exits as a wildcard in 2022 and 2023.
She was ranked 298th last summer when she knocked out 29th seed Sorana Cîrstea and world No45 Clara Burel before exiting to Coco Gauff, who was stunned in the first round of this year’s Championships by Dayana Yastremska on Tuesday evening.
Her match against Tomova on Wednesday was scheduled first on Court 3 at 11am BST but began at 1pm due to rain showers earlier in the day.
“I knew that match was going to be tough,” she said after victory in an on-court interview. “I knew she’s an incredible competitor.
“I felt good this morning; I was hitting it really cleanly. I just had one of those days when it was a very good day for me.
“I wanted to back up the run I had last year. This tournament, I really wanted to show that I’m at this level now and can consistently play. After the match against Jelena, I had so much confidence.”
Kartal added: “This year, I’ve made a conscious effort to only play the bigger matches, getting used to playing the best players on Tour, day in, day out. I feel I’m playing with much more freedom in my game.”
The Brit broke for 4-2 in the first set and backed it up with a hold to love, before breaking once more to take the first set 6-2.
She then broke Tomova’s first service game of the second set before holding serve to win her eighth straight game. She got herself to 5-2 up and had three match points on Tomova’s serve, taking the first to close out the match and secure her passage to the third round.
