 Kartal at the2023 French Open | |
| Country (sports) |  United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Residence | Brighton, England |
| Born | (2001-10-28)28 October 2001 (age 23) London, England |
| Turned pro | 2019 |
| Plays | Right (two-handed backhand) |
| Coach | Julie Hobbs, Ben & Martin Reeves |
| Prize money | $765,556 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 149–50 |
| Career titles | 1 |
| Highest ranking | No. 59 (14 April 2025) |
| Current ranking | No. 59 (14 April 2025) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | 1R (2025) |
| French Open | Q1 (2023) |
| Wimbledon | 3R (2024) |
| US Open | Q3 (2024) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 8–8 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 559 (30 January 2023) |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Wimbledon | 1R (2022) |
| Last updated on: 31 March 2025. | |
Sonay Kartal (born 28 October 2001) is a Britishtennis player. She has career-highrankings of world No. 60 in singles, achieved 07 April 2025, and of No. 559 in doubles. She has won oneWTA Tour title and 14ITF titles, all in singles.[1]
Kartal was born inSidcup,London, and lives inBrighton.[2] She is of Turkish descent through her father.[3] She attendedLonghill High School.[4]
She began playing tennis at the age of six, after watching her older brother play.[5][6] She currently trains at Pavilion & Avenue Tennis Club in Brighton.[7] Her favourite tennis players areRoger Federer andKim Clijsters.[8]
Kartal won her first title in November 2021, at the Antalya 15k event, beatingAmarissa Toth in the final.[9] This was shortly followed by her second title (and her first on hardcourt) atMonastir $15k, defeating former world No. 40,[10]Ayumi Morita, in the final.[11]
Kartal won the women's title at theUK Pro League with a 6–0, 6–1 win overFreya Christie in the final.[12][13][14] She ended 2021 ranked 993.
She followed up her success in late 2021 early in the 2022 season; winning her third title at the 25k Birmingham event with a three-sets win over compatriot Talia Neilson Gatenby.[15][16] She won a second consecutive 25k title in Glasgow, beating Czech playerBarbora Palicová.[17]
Kartal was part of theBJK Cup team for the qualifying tie in April 2022 when Great Britain faced the Czech team inPrague. However, she was not selected to play any matches.[18]
In May, she won two consecutive singles titles in the third and fourth weeks of the 25k Nottingham events— beatingDanielle Lao and Joanna Garland in the finals.[19][20]
During the grass-court season, Kartal received wildcards into the main draws at theSurbiton andIlkley Trophy, and theNottingham Open. At Surbiton, she defeatedLily Miyazaki in the first round, before falling in the second to top seedMadison Brengle.[21]
She made her WTA Tour debut with a wildcard atNottingham, where she lost in the first round toCamila Giorgi.[22][23] At Ilkley, she reached her first semifinal at 100k level— losing in two tiebreakers to compatriotJodie Burrage.[24]
Kartal was awarded a main-draw wildcard at the2022 Wimbledon Championships, where she made hermajor debut, losing in the first round to lucky loserLesley Pattinama Kerkhove, in three sets.[25][26][27]
In August, she enteredUS Open qualifying for the first time, but lost in the first round to SpaniardMarina Bassols Ribera in two tiebreak sets.[28]
Kartal posted a quarterfinal result at the W60 indoor event inTrnava, losing to the second seedVitalia Diatchenko.[29] The following week at the W60 Trvana 2, she upset third seedDaria Snigur in the first round, but was forced to retire from her second-round match due to injury.[30] However, these performances allowed her to make her top-200 debut. Kartal ended the year ranked No. 198, almost 800 places above her 2021 year-end ranking.[31]
At the2023 Australian Open, Kartal lost in three sets to 21st seedElizabeth Mandlik in the first qualifying round.[32]As a wildcard player, Kartal entered the W60 event inSunderland, England, falling to former top-30 playerMona Barthel in the quarterfinals.[33]
In June 2024, ranked No. 295, she qualified for the first time at theWimbledon Championships, earning a spot in the main draw, having received wildcards in the previous two editions.[34] She defeated 29th seedSorana Cirstea[35] and world No. 45,Clara Burel.[36] She became the second British woman in theOpen Era to reach the third round at this Major as a qualifier, and first sinceKaren Cross in 1997.[37] She lost her third round match to second seedCoco Gauff, going down in straight sets.[38]
In August, Kartal lifted back-to-back W35 GB Pro Series trophies on hardcourts inRoehampton, England, her fourth and fifth titles at that level in the season.[39][40]
In September, ranked No. 151, having made it through qualifying, she reached the first WTA Tour quarterfinal in her career at theJasmin Open inMonastir, Tunisia, upsetting fifth seedJaqueline Cristian, her third Top 100 win of 2024,[41][42] andMai Hontama.[43] Next, she defeatedYuliia Starodubtseva in straight sets,[44][45] and thenEva Lys in the semifinals by retirement, to reach her maiden WTA Tour final.[46][47][48][49] In the final, Kartal defeatedRebecca Šramková in straight sets. As a result, she broke into the top 100, raising 55 positions up to a new career-high of world No. 96 in the WTA singles rankings for the first time in her career.[50][51]
Kartal won her sixth ITF title of the year at theW100 in Shrewsbury in October, defeating fellow BritonHeather Watson in the final.[52]
Kartal made herAustralian Open main-draw debut, after securing direct entry thanks to her WTA ranking, but lost in the first round toJéssica Bouzas Maneiro.[53][54] In February, she qualified at theAbu Dhabi Open, losing in the first round to fellow qualifierKatie Volynets in three sets.[55]
In March, she entered the main draw atIndian Wells as a lucky loser, making her WTA 1000 debut, and defeated qualifierVarvara Lepchenko,[56] before overcoming 16th seedBeatriz Haddad Maia to register her maiden win against a top-20 ranked player and to reach the third round of a WTA 1000 tournament for the first time.[57][58] Next she defeatedPolina Kudermetova in straight sets,[59][60] before losing to world No.1Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round.[61] Despite the defeat, Kartal moved up 20 places in the WTA rankings to a new career-high of 63 on 17 March 2025.[62]
Kartal made her debut for theGreat Britain Billie Jean King Cup team againstGermany in the2025 qualifying round held inThe Hague,[63] recording a win overJule Niemeier in the opening singles match.[64] She then defeatedEva Vedder as Great Britain beat theNetherlands to secure a place at the finals.[65]
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | S | B | NMS | NTI | P | NH |
| Tournament | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | W–L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | A | Q1 | A | 1R | 0–1 | |
| French Open | A | Q1 | A | 0–0 | ||
| Wimbledon | 1R | 1R | 3R | 2–3 | ||
| US Open | Q1 | A | Q3 | 0–0 | ||
| Win–loss | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–4 | |
| Indian Wells | A | A | A | 4R | 3–1 | |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 |
| Tournament | 2022 | W–L |
|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | A | 0–0 |
| French Open | A | 0–0 |
| Wimbledon | 1R | 0–1 |
| US Open | A | 0–0 |
| Win–loss | 0–1 | 0–1 |
|
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Sep 2024 | Jasmin Open, Tunisia | WTA 250 | Hard |  Rebecca Šramková | 6–3, 7–5 |
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Oct 2021 | ITF Antalya, Turkey | W15 | Clay |  Rosa Vicens Mas | 1–6, 6–2, 3–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | Oct 2021 | ITF Antalya, Turkey | W15 | Clay |  Amarissa Tóth | 7–5, 7–5 |
| Win | 2–1 | Nov 2021 | ITF Monastir, Tunisia | W15 | Hard |  Ayumi Morita | 6–1, 6–2 |
| Win | 3–1 | Feb 2022 | ITF Birmingham, United Kingdom | W25 | Hard (i) | Talia Neilson Gatenby | 5–7, 6–3, 6–2 |
| Win | 4–1 | Feb 2022 | GB Pro-Series Glasgow, UK | W25 | Hard (i) |  Barbora Palicová | 7–6(5), 7–5 |
| Win | 5–1 | May 2022 | ITF Nottingham, UK | W25 | Hard |  Danielle Lao | 6–1, 6–0 |
| Win | 6–1 | May 2022 | ITF Nottingham, UK | W25 | Hard |  Joanna Garland | 6–3, 6–1 |
| Win | 7–1 | Apr 2023 | ITF Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy | W25 | Clay |  Ekaterina Makarova | 3–6, 6–2, 6–1 |
| Win | 8–1 | Sept 2023 | ITF Leiria, Portugal | W25 | Hard | Anastasia Zakharova | 7–6(5), 1–6, 6–3 |
| Win | 9–1 | Jan 2024 | ITF Loughborough, UK | W35 | Hard (i) |  Manon Léonard | 6–4, 6–1 |
| Win | 10–1 | Apr 2024 | ITF Nottingham, UK | W35 | Hard |  Klaudija Bubelytė | 6–1, 6–4 |
| Win | 11–1 | May 2024 | ITF Monzón, Spain | W35 | Hard | Linda Klimovičová | 6–1, 6–0 |
| Win | 12–1 | Jul 2024 | ITF Roehampton, UK | W35 | Hard |  Nastasja Schunk | 7–5, 6–1 |
| Win | 13–1 | Aug 2024 | ITF Roehampton, UK | W35 | Hard | Haruka Kaji | 6–3, 6–1 |
| Win | 14–1 | Oct 2024 | GB Pro-Series Shrewsbury, UK | W100 | Hard (i) | Heather Watson | 7–5, 4–1 ret. |
| Loss | 14–2 | Oct 2024 | Hamburg Ladies Cup, Germany | W75 | Hard (i) | Mona Barthel | 4–6, 6–7(6) |
Women's Tennis Association: Top British female singles tennis players | |
|---|---|
As of 31 March 2025 | |
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