Sonay Kartal’s run at Wimbledon has come to an end after she was defeated in straight sets by the US Open champion Coco Gauff in the third round of the Ladies Singles at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships.
The match, played on No.1 Court on Friday, 5 July, took just over an hour to complete, ending 6-4, 6-0 in favour to the No. 2 seed Gauff. Kartal, who was seeded 296 places lower at the start of Wimbledon, did well to compete with Gauff in the first set, but fell away to American’s powerful tennis strokes in the second.
Gauff, who hit the headlines at Wimbledon five years ago as a 15-year-old, when she defeated five-time champion Venus Williams, spoke highly of Kartal in an interview after the game:
“It’s been a great tournament for her and she came up with a high level in the first set. She didn’t give me much to work with. I never felt settled and she’s obviously very quick. She had nothing to lose and I had a lot of pressure.
“I think this was my first time ever playing a British player here so I was honestly a bit nervous, as I knew you guys would support her, which is totally understandable. Thankfully you guys are pretty nice to me and always really respectful. Playing in front of the British crowds is really great,” the American tennis player added.
Click here to watch the highlights of Sonay Kartal play Coco Gauff at Wimbledon, 5 July 2024
From Sidcup and of British Turkish descent, Kartal was on a five match winning streak ahead of Friday’s game, having come into the main competition at Wimbledon through the Qualifiers.
Along the way, Kartal had beaten several players ranked considerably higher than her, including France’s Clara Burel, ranked 42nd in the world, who lost 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 to Kartal in the second round, and 29th seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania who Kartal beat 3-6, 6-2,6-0 in the first round.
Kartal becomes just the second British woman in the Open Era to reach this stage after coming through Qualifying.
Her strong performance at this year’s Wimbledon will see the British Women’s No. 9 seed fly up the global tennis rankings by over one hundred places to 189, which would be the 22-year-old’s highest ever ranking since turned pro in 2019.
Main image, top, of Sonay Kartal photos from Wimbledon 2022 via her page on Facebook.
