Sonay Kartal claimed one of the best wins of the career as she sunk world number six Elina Svitolina to reach the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open.
Kartal, playing in only her third tournament since returning from six months out with a back injury, seized her first match point opportunity to complete a hard-hitting 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 win.
Her win means the 24-year-old, who made her breakthrough by reaching the fourth round of last year’s Wimbledon, advances to the last four of a WTA 1000 event for the first time.
Kartal said: “Despite winning the first set pretty comfortably I know what a great fighter she is and I knew until the last point was played I was never safe.
“I’m super proud of the determination I managed to show in that match and I think it was solid composure throughout. I’m breaking new ground this week.”
Kartal won two matches on her return to the tour at the China Open in Beijing earlier and stepped up her eye-catching return with wins over ninth seed Belinda Bencic and former Wimbledon finalist Jasmine Paolini in Wuhan.
She continued her momentum into the opening set against the experienced Svitolina, breaking the Ukrainian in the second game of the match then again to take the set in 33 minutes.
Despite dipping the in second set, Kartal showed no signs of fatigue as she matched Svitolina point for point in gripping decider, in which break point opportunities were at a premium.
Serving at 5-4 down, Svitolina swept a forehand wide to hand Kartal match point, and after Kartal hit a strong return, her opponent looped a backhand beyond the baseline to hand the Briton victory.