Sonay Kartal said she is “super proud” of herself as she reflected on a memorable ten days at Wimbledon.
The Briton was beaten in the third round on Friday evening as second seed Coco Gauff eased to a 6-4 6-0 win on Court One, bringing an end to Kartal’s superb run at SW19.
The 22-year-old three round rounds of qualifying to book her place in the main draw and then earned a first ever Grand Slam when knocking out 29th seed Sorana Cirstea in the opening round.
Kartal backed that up with another three-set win, getting the better of Clara Burel, to set up a blockbuster clash with Gauff. She is the first British female qualifier to reach the third round at Wimbledon since 1997.
There was a brilliant atmosphere under the Court One roof and, although Kartal was broken in the first game of the match, she hit back in what proved to be a hugely competitive set.
“Yeah, I'm proud of not just today but my whole week and last week, coming through quallies,” Kartal said.
“Obviously Monday for me getting my first WTA win, as well as a first Grand Slam win, yes, super proud of that. I think that first set today was probably some of my besttennis I've played.”
The second set got away from Kartal, something she put down to the “unbelievable tennis” of Gauff as the world number two marched on to a fourth-round clash with fellow American Emma Navarro in the fourth round.
Kartal will take home £143,000 in prize money from her run and is set to rise into the top 200 of the world rankings, and she is relishing the prospect of getting more opportunities to perform on the big stage.
“I think I'm going to have to think of a new route of tournaments that I want to play.
“I think for me, the best way for me to develop is to put myself out there against the higher-level players and almost be uncomfortable. I think that's going to be what's going to develop me.”
