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Sonay Kartal won the last 11 games of the match. Ranked 170th in the world and playing only her third tournament since a back stress fracture cost her six months of the season, the 24-year-old from Brighton dismantled two-time Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-0 in a little over an hour on Dongfeng Voyah Center Court to reach the quarter-finals of the Wuhan Open.
Paolini, the 15th seed and a runner-up at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2024, managed two games. Kartal has now gone through three rounds in Wuhan without dropping a set, beating Anhelina Kalinina, ninth seed Belinda Bencic 6-0, 7-5 and now the Italian — a run that equals the best WTA 1000 result of her career.
A rout built on the return game
The margins were not close enough to argue about. Kartal won 28 of the 40 points played on Paolini’s serve — 70 per cent — and struck 14 winners against eight unforced errors. Paolini made 24 unforced errors and never found a way to shorten the points against an opponent who simply refused to miss.
Kartal took five games in a row to close out a 35-minute opening set, then conceded nothing at all in the second. Paolini, who reached a career-high world No. 4 in 2025 and has slipped to around 33rd amid a season disrupted by form and fitness problems, was reduced to spectating.
“Against someone as good as Jasmine is, I knew from the start I was going to have to be solid and not let up concentration,” Kartal said. “From my side it was a pretty flawless performance so I’m very happy with that one.”
Six months out, three tournaments back
The context is what makes the scoreline striking. Kartal injured her lower back at Indian Wells in March, was diagnosed with a stress fracture, and missed three of the year’s four majors — including Wimbledon, where in 2025 she had beaten 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko on her way to a maiden fourth round at a Grand Slam. Her ranking, a career-high 44 in July 2025, fell to 170.
She described a recovery that stripped the sport down to basics. “Not being able to do that and feeling like I couldn’t do the basics like brushing my teeth,” she said of the worst of it. “It’s made me a stronger person, a better person.” On her return she added: “I trusted that I would be able to get my level back, I just didn’t know how quickly.”
The answer has arrived faster than anyone expected. Her comeback tournament was the China Open at the start of October, where she won her first WTA match in six months against qualifier Andrea Lazaro Garcia 6-2, 6-3, then beat 31st seed Wang Xinyu 6-3, 6-2 before losing in the third round to Alina Charaeva. A fortnight later she has beaten a top-15 seed and a top-35 opponent in consecutive matches.
Her Wuhan week to date:
- First round: beat Anhelina Kalinina in straight sets
- Second round: beat [9] Belinda Bencic 6-0, 7-5
- Third round: beat [15] Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-0
Kartal’s only previous WTA 1000 quarter-final came at the China Open last year, where she beat Daria Kasatkina, Maya Joint and then world No. 5 Mirra Andreeva before losing to Linda Noskova. She owns one tour title, the 2024 Jasmin Open, and 14 at ITF level.
Svitolina next, and a route back to the top 100
Fifth seed Elina Svitolina stands between Kartal and a first WTA 1000 semi-final, with the pair meeting on Friday. The former world No. 3 leads their head-to-head 2-0, though the most recent meeting, in Auckland in January, went to a third-set tie-break: 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5) to the Ukrainian.
Svitolina is into her 13th quarter-final of 2026 and is still chasing a WTA Finals place, but she was not convincing in beating wild card Guo Hanyu 6-1, 6-4 — under 50 per cent on first serves and 32 unforced errors, rescued by converting seven of 16 break points.
For Kartal, the ranking points already banked put a return to the top 100 within reach inside a month of her comeback, a climb that would normally take a season. She has been clear-eyed about what comes next. “I can produce the level,” she said this week, “but can I sustain it? I think that’s going to be the hardest challenge.”
On the evidence of three matches in Wuhan, the question is being answered.
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Sources: [LTA](https://www.lta.org.uk/news/2026/october/wuhan-open-2026-sonay-kartal-defeats-jasmine-paolini-to-reach-quarter-final/) · [Sky Sports](https://www.skysports.com/tennis/news/13599528/wuhan-open-sonay-kartal-stuns-jasmine-paolini-to-set-up-quarter-final-against-elina-svitolina-while-alexander-zverev-continues-winning-form) · [WTA quarter-final preview](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4592844/wuhan-quarterfinal-preview-li-swiatek-chwalinska-sakkari-svitolina-kartal-shnaider-ostapenko) · [TNT Sports](https://www.tntsports.co.uk/tennis/wta-wuhan/2026/sonay-kartal-wants-more-belinda-bencic-upset_sto23345567/story.shtml) · [LTA, China Open](https://www.lta.org.uk/news/2026/october/china-open-sonay-kartal-exits-in-third-round-defeat-to-alina-charaeva/) · [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonay_Kartal)
Two notes: the story checks out as real and every figure above is sourced. The Svitolina quarter-final was scheduled for 12:30 local time today (16 Oct) and no result had been published when I checked, so it is written as upcoming — worth a refresh before publication.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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