Sonay Kartal beat 15th seed Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-0 on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Wuhan Open, extending a rapid comeback from a six-month back injury layoff. The British player, 24, has now won five of seven matches since returning to the tour and will face fifth seed Elina Svitolina for a spot in the semifinals.
Kartal dropped just two games against Paolini, a former Wimbledon finalist and two-time Grand Slam finalist, and closed out the match by winning the final 11 games in a row. The result matches her best showing at a WTA 1000 event, equaling a quarterfinal run in Beijing last year.
Main Development: Kartal’s Dominant Win Over Paolini
Paolini struggled with unforced errors throughout the match as Kartal took control early and never let the Italian back in. Kartal described her performance afterward.
“Against someone as good as Jasmine is, I knew I had to be solid from the start and not let up. From my side, it was a pretty flawless performance,” Kartal said, according to BBC Sport.
She echoed that sentiment in comments carried by Sky Sports: “From my side it was a pretty flawless performance so I’m very happy with that one.”
What It Means For Kartal’s Comeback
The Wuhan Open marks Kartal’s third tournament back since a stress fracture in her back forced her to retire from a match against world number one Elena Rybakina at Indian Wells. The injury also kept her out of Wimbledon 2026, a tournament where she had reached the fourth round the previous year.
Kartal has not dropped a set across her three wins in Wuhan, a run that includes victories over Anhelina Kalinina and ninth seed Belinda Bencic before the win over Paolini. Those results have put her on the verge of a swift return to the top 100 after injury had interrupted a season in which she had cracked the top 50 and climbed as high as world number 44.
Season Context: Wins Over Keys And Navarro
Before her injury layoff, Kartal had already shown she could compete with elite opponents. She recorded notable victories over 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys and former world number eight Emma Navarro at Indian Wells, results that signaled her rise before the back injury sidelined her for more than half a year.
Her form in Wuhan, three straight-sets wins against increasingly difficult competition, suggests that level has carried over despite the long absence. For more on how upsets have reshaped this tournament’s draw, see China Open Upsets Reshape WTA Quarterfinal Picture.
What’s Next: Quarterfinal Against Svitolina
Kartal will face fifth seed Elina Svitolina, a four-time Grand Slam semifinalist, in the quarterfinals. Svitolina advanced with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Chinese wild card Guo Hanyu. The matchup pits Kartal’s current five-match momentum against a far more experienced opponent at the deep stages of majors. Another recent WTA upset worth tracking involved Rybakina, detailed in Alina Charaeva’s shocking upset of world No. 1 Rybakina.
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