Sonay Kartal has been one of the success stories of the Wimbledon Championships so far.
In 2024 the 23-year-old came through the qualifiers to reach the third round, where she lost to Coco Gauff.
A year later, Kartal is now ranked inside the top 50, matching her career-best run at the All-England Club in the process.
She now has an opportunity to reach the last 16 at her Grand Slam for the first time, something that looked so far away during her junior career.
Sonay Kartal says she struggled with inconsistency during her junior career
Sonay Kartal has enjoyed a somewhat sharp rise up what WTA rankings over the past year.
This is due to her improved consistency on tour, as Kartal has managed to win at least one match in eight of the tournaments she has entered in 2025.
Consistency is something the Brit has had to work hard to attain, as injuries prevented her from playing regularly as a junior player. However, she thanked the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) for equipping with the tools to develop physically and improve her level of play.
“I was out quite a lot of years injured as a teenager. I didn’t pick up a racket for a couple years as well. I was kind of a bit inconsistent as I was going through teenage years,” Kartal said.
“The LTA helped me massively. For me it came at exactly the right time. It was when I started to come on the scene and was putting together a few good wins consistently.
“They really helped to give me all the equipment and access to everything I needed to develop as well, which is obviously what I think has happened in the last few years. I think I’ve shot up the rankings. My game style really rocketed.”
Sonay Kartal says how she has been adapting to grass court tennis
Kartal has won 23 of the 40 matches she has played on grass in her career so far.
It is a surface she has had to take some time to adjust to, but given her results at Wimbledon over the past two seasons, she seems at one with the grass.
As she continues to build her confidence matches on grass, Kartal says the recent success she has had on the surface has not come easily.
“It’s a surface that doesn’t really come naturally to me. I have to really think and adapt my game style, which I think is also going to help me develop beyond this tournament as well,” she explained.
“I have to be really aggressive. If I can be aggressive on grass, I can prove to myself that I can do it and I can do it against the best players.”
