Kartal beats Wang to reach China Open last 32

Sonay Kartal reached the China Open's last 32 by beating Wang Xinyu 6-3 6-2, continuing her return from a lengthy injury absence. BBC Sport reported that the British player defeated the Chinese 31st seed in her second tour match back.

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Kartal hit 12 winners and committed 11 unforced errors, while Wang made 24 unforced errors. She took five of her 14 break-point opportunities to secure another straight-sets victory in Beijing, where she reached the quarter-finals last year.

The result follows a comeback that began in team competition before moving to the WTA Tour. According to the BBC's earlier report, the 24-year-old injured her lower back at Indian Wells in March and returned at the Billie Jean King Cup on 22 September. That team event offered her a first competitive match after the long lay-off. She narrowly lost to Marie Bouzkova, the Czech player ranked 26th in the world, before travelling to Beijing for her tour return.

Kartal arrived at the China Open ranked 129th and opened against Spanish qualifier Andrea Lazaro Garcia. She won that match 6-2 6-3, breaking serve five times, with four double faults from her opponent helping her cause. The BBC reported that Kartal also landed 69% of her first serves in that opening victory. She completed the win without needing a deciding set against the Spanish qualifier. That performance earned her the meeting with Wang and gave her a winning start to her first WTA event after almost six months away through injury.

Her next opponent will be Alina Charaeva, who overturned a one-set deficit to eliminate world number one Elena Rybakina 3-6 6-4 6-3. The Armenian, ranked 118th, had never previously played a top-20 opponent on the WTA Tour, according to Saturday's BBC report.

The upset removes the US Open champion from Kartal's path. In her on-court interview, Kartal said she was happy to be back at an event she enjoys and hoped to match or improve on her quarter-final run of 2025.