Sonay Kartal beats Svitolina to reach first WTA 1000 semi-final in Wuhan

Sonay Kartal reached her first WTA 1000 semi-final on Friday by beating fifth seed Elina Svitolina 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 at the Wuhan Open. The 24-year-old Briton secured her first victory over the Ukrainian in three meetings, according to the WTA, continuing a comeback that began last month after six months out with a back injury.

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Kartal controlled the opening set before Svitolina levelled the match. The Lawn Tennis Association reported that Kartal dropped only five points on serve in the first set and did not face a break point. Svitolina then improved her serving and converted two of seven break opportunities in the second, taking the quarter-final into a deciding set.

The final set remained on serve through nine games, with neither player facing a break point during that stretch. Kartal finally created an opening with Svitolina serving at 4-5. Her first break opportunity of the set was also match point, and she converted it to end the contest, the WTA reported. The result was her second career victory against a top-10 opponent.

The achievement follows an extended recovery from a stress fracture in her back. BBC Sport reported that Kartal had beaten Madison Keys and Emma Navarro at Indian Wells in March before retiring against Elena Rybakina in the fourth round. The injury became the longest interruption to her competitive career, and her ranking now stands at 170.

Wuhan has brought successive victories against seeded players. Kartal defeated ninth seed Belinda Bencic in the second round and 15th seed Jasmine Paolini in the last 16 before overcoming Svitolina. According to BBC Sport, she has won six of eight matches since returning to competition, including her appearance for Great Britain at the Billie Jean King Cup.

Kartal joins Johanna Konta as the only British women to have reached a WTA 1000 semi-final since the format began in 2009, the LTA reported. She next faces former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko. Their two previous meetings, both on grass, produced one victory apiece. Kartal said after Friday's win that she was particularly pleased to have maintained her level throughout the week, rather than producing only one standout performance.