Sonay Kartal beats Jasmine Paolini to reach Wuhan quarter-finals

Sonay Kartal reached the Wuhan Open quarter-finals with a 6-2 6-0 victory over Jasmine Paolini, extending her return from a lengthy injury absence. According to BBC Sport, the 24-year-old Briton has now won five of seven matches since coming back from a stress fracture in her back that kept her out for more than six months.

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Paolini, the Italian 15th seed and a former Wimbledon finalist, won only two games as Kartal followed up her straight-sets victory over ninth seed Belinda Bencic. BBC Sport reported that Kartal's consistency from the baseline contrasted with a succession of unforced errors from Paolini. Kartal said she had aimed to maintain her level from the beginning against an opponent of Paolini's quality and was pleased with how she executed that approach.

The result leaves Kartal without a dropped set across three matches in Wuhan. Before beating Bencic and Paolini, she defeated Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina, ranked 48th in the world. Kartal entered the tournament using a protected injury ranking and will next face another Ukrainian, Elina Svitolina, who has reached four Grand Slam semi-finals.

Her current run follows an abrupt interruption to a promising start to the season. Kartal, previously ranked as high as 44th, had made two WTA quarter-finals before the injury. At Indian Wells, wins against 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys and former world number eight Emma Navarro took her into the fourth round, where her meeting with Elena Rybakina ended with Kartal retiring because of her back.

The recovery proved longer and more difficult than she had initially expected. BBC Sport reported that the pain affected everyday activities and ultimately ruled her out of Wimbledon. That absence followed her run to the fourth round at the same Grand Slam in 2025, adding significance to the decision to wait rather than accelerate her return.

Kartal resumed competition a little over three weeks ago while representing Great Britain in the Billie Jean King Cup, losing a close opening match. She then won twice in Beijing to reach the third round on her return to the WTA Tour. Wuhan is only her third tournament back, and the victory over Paolini has taken her into another quarter-final.