London-born Sonay Kartal has been described “an absolute inspiration” to her club and hometown as she made it through to the third round of Wimbledon.
Despite battling undisclosed health problems for much of the last year, the world number 298 won against France’s Clara Burel, ranked 45th, in an impressive upset on Wednesday afternoon - becoming the first British ladies' qualifier to reach the third round of the Championships since 1997.
The 22-year-old will now win at least £143,000 from the tournament, and will next face number two seed Coco Gauff.
A fellow member of the Brighton club where Kartal trains described her as “an incredible role model” and said she has “lots and lots of loving support” from the town, following her second-round victory.
“Everyone here is incredibly proud of her,” Amir Goshtai told the Standard, from Pavilion & Avenue Tennis Club where Kartal trains.
The FIRST British ladies' qualifier to reach the third round since 1997 🤯
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 3, 2024
A dream run so far for Sonay Kartal, who sets up a meeting with Coco Gauff 👀#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/Dr5klVZnhS
“My son is one of the juniors here - he's 11 years old - and she is a complete inspiration to all the juniors here.
“What stands out in particular is her incredible work ethic - how incredibly well she's managed her emotions. She's shown amazing control on court.”
Mr Goshtai said dozens of fellow members gathered at the club to watch Kartal play on Wednesday.
“She’s an absolute inspiration for everyone at the club, and everyone in the town as well,” he said. “She has lots and lots of loving support here and she's an absolutely incredible role model.”
Speaking after her career-best match on Wednesday, Kartal said: “Today is a really special day for me. Monday was a high but I’ve topped that today.”
Kartal - who goes by the nickname Karts - was born in Sidcup, south-east London but moved to Brighton when she was young and still lives there today.
She first began playing tennis at the age of six at Pavilion & Avenue Tennis Club, where she still trains.
After turning pro in 2021, she was given wildcard recipient in the main draw at the All England Club last year and the year before, but she lost both first-round matches.
This time, she came through qualifying to make the draw.
But Kartal feared missing Wimbledon altogether this year after a health scare earlier in the year.
“I had a scary few months at the start of the year,” she said on Monday after her first-round win against No29 seed Sorana Cristea.
“I said I won’t disclose what it was but it was health-related,” she continued. “I didn’t think I would be back potentially at all this year.
“It was tough sitting on the sidelines for a few months and watching your friends play. But I’ve got a great team around me, a doctor when I thought I wouldn’t be back was completely determined, changed my mind that I would. I had full faith and fully believed she would get me back on the court.”
But she recovered to pull off the first grand slam victory of her career on Monday, which she described at the time as “my greatest and definitely my proudest [career moment]”.
Kartal beat Burel 6-3 5-7 6-3 on Wednesday, weathering a second-set wobble to storm into the Wimbledon third round.
