A lot has change in the past week for Sonay Kartal who at one stage was expecting to leave Indian Wells without playing a match in the main draw.
The British world No.83 was seeded third in the qualifying draw but suffered a three-set loss to America’s Clervie Ngounoue in the final round. Despite the defeat, she gained a spot in the main draw as a lucky loser following the withdrawal of Sloane Stephens due to injury. Making the most of her opportunity, Kartal has won three matches in a row without dropping a set.
In the first round, she beat Tour veteran Varvara Lepchenko before producing a shock win over 16th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia. Haddad Maia, who she dropped only three games against, is the first top 20 player she has beaten in her career. Continuing her momentum on Monday, Kartal then dismissed Polina Kudermetova 7-5, 6-3.
“With a game-style like hers, she’s going to hit winners left, right and center the entire match,” Kartal said of Kudermetova during an interview with wtatennis.com. “It was just something I had already accepted and for me the most important thing was to hold serve and keep the scoreboard pressure on her.”
The 23-year-old illustrated her talent last season by rising from 252nd in the world to inside the top 100. At Wimbledon, she reached the third round in what is her best performance at a Grand Slam to date. Then in September, she won her first WTA title in the Jasmine Open in Tunisia. Her rise follows a health scare which put her entire career into jepordy. Kartal has chosen not to publically disclose what the scare was.
In Indian Wells, her next test will be a showdown against world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in what will be their first meeting. As to how Kartal is going to prepare for the match, she plans to draw upon her experiance of playing Coco Gauff at Wimbledon last year.
“I learned so much from that match against Coco,” she said. “You go into it feeling like you have to bring your best game, you have to be perfect. I feel like you almost have to overplay. That can sometimes overcomplicate things, and that’s what I think I did in that match.
“I used that against Beatriz the other day. I knew I didn’t have to overplay and that my level was there and I could come into it relaxed. Obviously, I’m going to go in with the same mindset.”
Sabalenka moved into the last 16 with a clinical 6-1, 6-2, win over Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti. She is yet to win the title in Indian Wells but did reach the final in 2023 before losing to Iga Swiatek. Like Kartal she is also yet to drop a set in this year’s tournament but has played one less match due to having a first round bye.
“I never played her before and I have not seen a lot of matches of her, but I’m sure that my team will prepare some highlights,” Sabalenka said of her next opponent.
“We always watch some sets of my opponents and analyze the game, and I like to know where they struggle the most. At some of the critical moments of the match, I can just put some pressure in that direction.” She added.
The upcoming match will be the first time a world No.1 has played a lucky loser in the fourth round or better of a WTA 1000 event since the format was introduced in 2009.
