Sonay Kartal has reached the biggest final of her career at the Wuhan Open, in only her third tournament after returning from a back stress fracture which sidelined her for six months.

Against Jelena Ostapenko, Kartal maintained her trademark ice-cool demeanour to fight back from a break down in both sets to take the 7-6 (11-9), 7-6 (5) win.

In a match that lasted 2 hours and 12 minutes, Kartal did not look like a player who has only just returned to the tour after a back stress fracture that left her in pain doing the simplest of tasks – including walking.

Instead, she managed to bide her time against Ostapenko, who tried to hit a winner off almost every ball, and carve out a victory that ensured she would become only the second British woman to reach a WTA 1000 final after Johanna Konta’s 2019 run in Rome. 

WTA 1000 tournaments are the highest tier of competition beneath the four grand slams.

More to follow...