WUHAN — Britain's Sonay Kartal continued her impressive comeback from a long-term injury with a dominant 6-2 6-0 victory over former Wimbledon finalist Jasmine Paolini to reach the Wuhan Open quarterfinals. The win came in only her third tournament since a six-month absence with a stress fracture in her back and improved her record to five wins in seven matches since returning to action.
The 24-year-old former world No. 44 ruthlessly brushed aside Italian 15th seed Paolini without dropping a set, backing up her straight-set win over ninth seed Belinda Bencic in the previous round. Kartal has not dropped a set in Wuhan in victories over Ukrainian world No. 48 Anhelina Kalinina, 2020 Olympic champion Bencic and two-time major finalist Paolini, maintaining a high level from the baseline as Paolini unraveled with a series of unforced errors. "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.
Kartal was riding the crest of a wave in the early part of the season after breaking into the world's top 50, reaching two WTA quarterfinals and recording notable wins over 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys and former world No. 8 Emma Navarro at Indian Wells, which led to a fourth-round meeting with now world No. 1 Elena Rybakina. She was forced to retire in that match with the back injury, which proved more serious than first thought. After initially hoping for a quick recovery, the pain left her unable to brush her teeth without "being in agony," and she made the difficult decision to miss Wimbledon despite reaching the fourth round of her home Grand Slam in 2025.
Her first match back a little over three weeks ago representing Great Britain at the BJK Cup ended in a narrow defeat, before she won two matches to reach the third round in Beijing in her WTA Tour return. Playing in Wuhan using a protected injury ranking, Kartal has carried that momentum forward and will next face Ukraine's Elina Svitolina, a four-time Grand Slam semifinalist, in the quarterfinals.