Sonay Kartal: Brit breaks new ground by upsetting Elina Svitolina to reach Wuhan Open semi-finals

Image: Sonay Kartal is playing in only her third tournament since a six-month injury absence

Britain's Sonay Kartal has stormed into the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open - a WTA 1000 event - in just her third tournament back from injury.

Kartal continued her incredible form by defeating fifth seed Elina Svitolina 6-2 2-6 6-4.

She will take on former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko on Saturday for a spot in Sunday's final.

After reaching the fourth round of Indian Wells in March, Kartal, 24, missed six months with a stress fracture in her back, returning last month at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.

Kartal, previously ranked as high as No 44 in the world, reached the third round in Beijing last week.

In Wuhan, she has swept past world No 48 Anhelina Kalinina, world No 12 Belinda Bencic, two-time Grand Slam singles finalist Jasmine Paolini, and now four-time major semi-finalist Svitolina.

Currently 170th in the WTA rankings, Kartal will almost certainly break back into the top 100 after becoming the lowest-ranked player to reach the semi-finals in Wuhan.

She missed three of this year's four Grand Slams, including Wimbledon.