Photo: Wikimedia Commons (free licence), cropped and styled by SportNestra — author and licence
Sonay Kartal upset Svitolina to advance to the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open. The Briton defeated fifth seed Elina Svitolina 6-2, 2-6, 6-4. She has reached the last four of the WTA 1000 event in only her third tournament since returning from injury.
The win extends an impressive run in Wuhan. Kartal has also beaten Anhelina Kalinina, Belinda Bencic and Jasmine Paolini, a two-time Grand Slam singles finalist. She is currently ranked 170th in the WTA rankings and is the lowest-ranked player to reach the semi-finals in Wuhan. A return to the top 100 is now almost certain.
The 24-year-old had reached the fourth round at Indian Wells in March before missing six months with a stress fracture in her back. She returned to competition last month at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals. This year, she has missed three of the four Grand Slam tournaments, including Wimbledon.
Last week, Kartal reached the third round in Beijing. Her highest previous ranking was No. 44 in the world. Her run in Wuhan marks another step forward after a lengthy absence from the tour.
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