Kartal upsets Svitolina to reach Wuhan semi-finals

Lorraine McKenna - BBC Sport JournalistFri, October 16, 2026 at 8:12 AM UTC

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Sonay Kartal has dropped to 170 in the world after her long-term injury, but reached a career-high ranking of 44 last summerSonay Kartal's winning streak following a long injury lay-off continues as she seals a hard-fought victory over fifth seed Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals of the Wuhan Open.

Sonay Kartal's winning streak following a long injury lay-off continued as she sealed a hard-fought victory over fifth seed Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals of the Wuhan Open.

The 24-year-old Briton, who missed more than six months with a stress fracture in her back, beat Ukrainian Svitolina 6-2 2-6 6-4 to mark her sixth win in eight matches since returning from injury.

It was another eye-catching performance by Kartal, who defeated Italian 15th seed Jasmine Paolini and Swiss ninth seed Belinda Bencic in the previous rounds.

She will face 2017 French Open champion Jeļena Ostapenko, who came through a tense opening set to beat 11th seed Diana Shnaider 7-6 (8-6) 6-1, in her first WTA 1000 semi-final on Saturday.

Kartal wins again as impressive comeback continues

Speaking on court after her victory, Kartal said she knew "what a great fighter" world number six Svitolina is, so she "was never safe" in the match.

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"It was solid composure from me throughout," she added. "It's breaking new ground for me this week.

"I love playing here and on this court. The atmosphere was amazing, so big thank you to the crowd."

Kartal had not dropped a set during her run to the quarter-finals at Wuhan, and she broke Svitolina early in the first to start on a positive note.

Svitolina then called for a medical timeout for treatment on her right arm, but she came back strong to take the second set 6-2 and send the last-eight tie to a decider.

The two players were evenly matched in the third set but it was Kartal, using a protected injury ranking to play, who managed to break Svitolina's serve at 5-4 and book her place in the last four.

In the other quarter-finals, Polish 16th seed Maja Chwalinska faces Greek Maria Sakkari, while American Ann Li takes on six-time Grand Slam winner and seventh seed Iga Swiatek.

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