Kartal Beats Svitolina in Wuhan Quarterfinals
Sonay Kartal of Britain beat the fifth seed, Elina Svitolina, 6–2, 2–6, 6–4 to reach the semifinals, where she plays Jelena Ostapenko.
Sonay Kartal of Britain beat Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6–2, 2–6, 6–4 to reach the semifinals of the Wuhan Open. Svitolina is ranked sixth and was the fifth seed.
Kartal broke early to take the first set. Svitolina took a medical timeout for treatment on her right arm and won the second. The third set went with serve until 5–4, when Kartal broke to win.
Kartal, 24, is ranked 170th after missing more than six months with a stress fracture in her back. She entered on a protected ranking, which lets a player who has been out injured use the ranking she had before. Wuhan is her third tournament since she returned, and she has not lost a set to anyone but Svitolina this week, beating Jasmine Paolini and Belinda Bencic along the way.
It is her first semifinal at an event of this size. She plays Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the 2017 French Open champion, on Saturday. Maja Chwalinska of Poland plays the winner of Iga Swiatek and Ann Li in the other semifinal.
Sonay Kartal of Britain beat Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6–2, 2–6, 6–4 to reach the semifinals of the Wuhan Open in China.
Kartal, 24, is ranked 170th after missing more than six months with a stress fracture in her back, and entered the tournament on a protected ranking, which lets a player who has been out injured use the ranking she had before. Svitolina is ranked sixth and was the fifth seed.
Kartal broke Svitolina early in the first set and took it 6–2. Svitolina then took a medical timeout for treatment on her right arm and won the second set 6–2.
The third set went with serve until 5–4. Kartal broke Svitolina in that game to win the match.
Svitolina hit three aces to Kartal's none. Kartal won 11 of her 13 service games and broke three times. She won 30 of 45 points on her first serve. Svitolina saved four of the seven break points she faced.
It was the third meeting between the two. Svitolina won 6–3, 6–1 in the second round in Madrid in 2025 and in three sets in the Auckland quarterfinals in January.
Kartal had not lost a set in Wuhan before Friday. Earlier in the week she beat Jasmine Paolini of Italy, the 15th seed, and Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, the ninth seed. The win over Svitolina was her sixth in eight matches since she returned from the injury.
It is her first semifinal at an event of this size. She is the second British woman to reach that stage at one since 2009, after Johanna Konta.
Kartal said she knew "what a great fighter" Svitolina is, so she "was never safe" in the match. "It was solid composure from me throughout," she said. "It's breaking new ground for me this week."
Before the back injury, she reached the fourth round at Indian Wells in March. The injury kept her out of three of this year's four majors, Wimbledon among them. Wuhan is her third tournament since she returned. Her first-round win here was over Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine. Sky Sports said she is the lowest-ranked player to reach the semifinals in Wuhan.
The final is on Sunday. Her semifinal opponent on Saturday is Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the 2017 French Open champion. Ostapenko beat Diana Shnaider, the 11th seed, 7–6(6), 6–1. Ostapenko beat Jessica Pegula of the United States, the second seed, earlier in the tournament.
In the other half of the draw, Maja Chwalinska of Poland, the 16th seed, beat Maria Sakkari of Greece 6–0, 3–6, 7–5.
Chwalinska plays the winner of the quarterfinal between Iga Swiatek of Poland, the seventh seed and a six-time major champion, and Ann Li of the United States. Li beat the top seed, Aryna Sabalenka, in the second round.
Both of the top two seeds are out. Sabalenka, a three-time champion in Wuhan, lost to Li, and Pegula lost to Ostapenko.